Marketing Your Invention

by Thomas E. Mosley

Discusses the different aspects involved in marketing an idea, such as obtaining a patent, getting objective evaluations, raising capital, and licensing the product. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1574100726
• ISBN13: 9781574100723
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Beat the Odds Against New Products

It is a sad fact of life that only between one and two percent of patented items make money for their inventors. The author of this book believes this could be increased to between five and ten percent if inventors were provided with and used the information now available through inventor clubs and other groups such as Oklahoma's Inventors' Assistance Program. Once the inventor has demonstrated he has a working concept and has established some legal protection for it (preferably at least patent pending status), he is faced with a basic decision. That is, to manufacture it himself ("venturing") or to license it to others ("technology transfer" in today's terms). It is another sad fact of life that most inventors do not possess the qualities needed for creating successful businesses. Thomas Edison is a classic example. Although a brilliant inventor, he often failed when he attempted to commercialize his inventions. A frequent mistake is not doing elementary market research at an early stage. Large sums of money are often spent on prototyping, patenting, and tooling only to learn that the idea has already been patented and may even have been a catalog item for years! Without revealing details of his invention, an inventor can make a simple check using local library directories. Catalogs and a simple computer check may reveal incredible sources of information relating to his item. The author cites a typical experience where a $50 computer research and a $15 phone call could have saved an inventor $4,000. This author does a superb job of warning about the many fraudulent "invention development companies" that fleece American inventors out of hundred of millions of dollars every year. He suggests that before you even talk to any firm advertising such services that you check with Robert Lougher of the Inventors Awareness Group, 1533 East Mountain Rd., Westfield, MA 01085-1458 (phone 413-568-5561). Many inventors suffer from the "great mousetrap fallacy". As children we were told Emerson had said "If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door". His actual words were distorted and that distortion is still quoted today. Yet many inventors assume that they can sit back and wait for a mob of customers to arrive. He who thinks, in this day and age, that a product will sell itself is out of touch with the real world. Another common disease found among inventors is the tendency to write sales letters that make "deal-killer statements". Some inventors seem totally unaware of the red flags certain statements raise in the mind of potential investors or customers. Mosley cites as examples: "There is no competition" and "If we just get five percent of the market, we'll all be rich". He notes even when there is no direct competition there is indirect competition; television still has to contend with books, movies, etc. Inventors who think they will get five percent of the market just by entering the market impress investors as being

Useful and easy to read

I was burned by ISC for a lot of money, if I was reading this book before it would never happen. I have learned a lot about the logic behind marketing your own invention. It is not hard to do, but you have to be honest with yourself first. There are a lot of good places with good information for all inventors on the Internet that will complement the content of this book... take advantage - stay informed. Do not call any "800" numbers that you see on TV they are all crooks.

Honest information from an experienced marketeer

This is a very useful book for any inventor trying to learn the ropes on how to market their own invention. Marketing an invention is a very dificult task and the majority of those trying it fail. Reading this book may improve your chances to succeed. The book is written in an easy to understand non-academic way, presenting the invention marketing process from an original point of view. The fact that the overal tone is not cheerful and a lot of mistakes are pointed out it will upset some over optimistic readers. Tom Mosley did a good job trying to convey to us what is needed to be successful and what are the usual problems.

This book turned on the lights!

I was blindly trying to market my invention when I saw this book. I bought it immediately and could not put it down. My whole approach had been wrong. I needed to be marketing to those with the money and experience to get it to the mass merchandisers. Once I changed my focus and collected testimonials from the right people things began to happen. I now have a licensing agreement in place for 7.5% and do not have to raise capital, worry about meeting a payroll, etc. I wholeheartedly recommend reading this book before trying to market your invention to anyone.

"One of the best books written for inventors...must reading.

As an innovator as well as a member of several inventors groups, I experience frequently the needs, problems and frustrations that members have with their inventions. The biggest misconception in my view is that most inventors think that obtaining a patent is a license to print money. That a patent is a type of guarantee for the success of your idea. Nothing could be further from the truth. For most inventors their happiest day is the Tuesday when their patent issues. This is completely absurd since the happiest day should be when their idea is making them money. In the book "Marketing Your Invention", Mr. Mosley goes to great lengths to share his experiences from reviewing hundreds of new ideas and innovations and how new inventors can avoid all the pitfalls. It is sad to say that most new ideas will never return the amount of money that it cost for patenting a new idea. The reason is they have no idea of how to market their idea. Invention marketing companie! s know that most inventors have no idea of how to market their idea so they sell them a dream about how great their idea is and how they will bring it to market. The first step before spending any money on a new idea should be to obtain a copy of "Marketing Your Invention" and taking the time to thoroughly understand how hard it truly is to get a new product onto the market. Marketing is the key, no matter how good your product is without marketing it will go nowhere. Often the success of a product depends more on its name and packaging than the product itself. This is done with a great marketing plan.