How To Make Millions With Your New Idea

By Frank Stapleton

Patent and Invention Know-How is a book written for beginning inventors who have an idea but don't know where to start. It’s a quick guide to get your idea up and running without having to know everything there is to know about inventing.

Frank Stapleton uses his knowledge and experience from taking several inventions to market and walks you through the process by homing in one one product and market. By approaching the process this way you can get solid answers to specific questions that beginners have about the invention process.

Frank Stapleton is the co-inventor of the Screen Sweep, which has helped millions of happy consumers clear the dust off their computer monitors. Since 1997, Frank Stapleton has seen several inventions go to market and now he wants to show you how you can experience the same success. He has been employed as a draftsman, industrial designer, engineering designer, human factors specialist (ergonomics), and a model maker. His broad experience is perfect for teaching beginning inventors the entire process of invention from idea to marketing.

Frank says, the nice thing about inventing for a living is that you gain something even more valuable than money for your efforts... time. You see, after you start receiving a royalty check, you’re pretty much through with your new idea. And that means you’ll have a lot of free time on your hands especially if the royalties are sufficient enough to support you. You can use that time for whatever you want. I personally use that time to develop new products, write songs, paint large abstract paintings, and write books. There’s no better way to earn a living than inventing new products.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frank Stapleton
• Release date: Mar 18, 2012

Frank Stapleton

My name is Frank Stapleton and I am the co-inventor of the Screen Sweep. Chances are you have used my invention to clear the dust off your computer monitor. Over thirty million advertising specialty Screen Sweeps have been sold since 1997 and they continue to sell today. Over the course of my life I have worked as a draftsman, industrial designer, engineering designer, human factors specialist (ergonomics), and a model maker.

Book preview

How to Make Millions With Your New Idea

Introduction

When it comes to helping people get their new ideas on the market, there’s certainly no shortage of information. You’ll find books, courses, and even articles that you can download from the Internet free of charge.

In fact, there’s so much information on this subject, it can be a major hindrance for new-idea-inventors. I realize that might seem contradictory, but here’s the deal...

For the average person - someone who wants to know how to get their particular new idea up and running on a shoestring budget and as quickly as possible - most of the information that’s available isn’t nearly specific enough to be of any true value.

Overall, what you’ll find is information that’s too broad-based, covering the whole subject of inventing and marketing rather than focusing on a particular new idea in a particular market and then following it all the way through to the end.

As if that’s not discouraging enough, many experts are quick to point out that less than one percent of all new patents (new ideas) will make money. Now I ask you, how does that kind of information help a new inventor? If anything, hearing such a dismal statistic would discourage them from even trying.

Mind you, those same experts expect you to purchase their books. And years ago, even I became frustrated whenever I read that type of information, so much so that I would just give up.

But that’s something I want to make certain you don’t consider. Why? Because even though the graveyards for new idea are full, I guarantee you can still make a lot of money with a new idea.

You see, what many of those books fail to take into account is the fact that the driving force behind an idea doesn’t want to be put on hold while you learn the in’s and out’s of inventing.

And there’s nothing that makes a new-idea-inventor more vulnerable than having to stop to learn the invention process while holding back the floodgates of eagerness.

The truth is, if you don’t learn to control it, eagerness will get you into trouble everywhere you go during the new-idea-invention process. Here’s how...

Marketing firms (as well as draftsmen, engineers, model makers, artists, patent attorneys, contract lawyers, and manufacturers) will see and hear your eagerness. To them, that same eagerness translates to an easy sell of their services.

Unless they happen to be completely reputable, they won’t really care if your new idea is good or not. They’ll simply tell you whatever it is you want to hear in order to get your money. Needless to say, these are not the people you should pitch your new idea to, much less confide in.

Granted, it’s difficult for first-time new-idea-inventors to resist the temptation to dump most of the work on people who can help expedite their new idea. And considering how complicated and confusing the entire process of inventing can be, you can hardly blame them.

Unfortunately, it’s also the reason so many new-idea-inventors get ripped off and eventually give up.

One way to circumvent this dilemma is to think about new-idea-inventing as a potential career and not a one-time get-rich event. Be aware... the more money you want to squeeze out of an idea, the more things you’ll need to do for yourself. Things like designing, drawing, model making, patent searches - not to mention using your own money.

Because most beginners won’t have the necessary skills and knowledge to do everything themselves, they’ll have to give up a big piece of the financial pie for services rendered. So the bottom line is, the more services one needs, the more control one has to relinquish in order to get those services.

Knowing this up front should help put things into proper perspective. Which is, you don’t have a lot to offer and therefore you’ll be making concessions along the way in order to get things done.

My method - giving up some money and control - is geared toward simple, easy-to-make gadgets (or widgets, or whatever you want to call them) in order to help you get over the hump of fear and procrastination.

I’ll do this by teaching you how to keep the cost down to a minimum, how to get others to pay for most of the cost involved, and how to produce income with little or no risk of unexpected future expenses (like knock-offs, law suits, etc.).

To help you get started, I’ve put together this book in a way that takes you through the process step by step - focusing on ONE PRODUCT and ONE MARKET. This way, you’ll get solid answers to specific problems related to a specific product and for a specific market.

And the best part of all? When you’re finished with this book, you’ll know exactly how to develop an idea from scratch and license it to a manufacturer in a specific market.

I’ve chosen to begin by jumping right into the design process, something that can get an idea up and running quickly. I’ll also be discussing various aspects of patenting, manufacturing, selling, marketing, and contracts during the design process, but more detailed information on each of these topics can be found in subsequent chapters.

Disclaimer - Please be advised that the content contained in this publication is merely intended for informational and/or educational purposes and does not constitute any legal advice or council (nor should it be considered a substitute for proper and professional legal advice from a licensed attorney).

I Have An Idea... Now What?

How To Know If You Have A Good Idea

Here’s a good question... how can you tell if you have a good idea?

A neighbor once told me that there needs to be a mailbox with doors on both ends. And what sparked that particular idea started with the fact that she had an elevated lawn. Rather than go out on the street to retrieve her mail, she would simply lean over the top of her mailbox and open it from behind.

So a mailbox with doors at both ends was a great idea, right? As far as this person was concerned, it was. Of course, there were other ways to accomplish my neighbor’s goal without the need for an extra door on her mailbox. One method, for example, would be to rotate the mailbox, or just spin the pole around.

The question is, how many people would want a mailbox that spins around or has two doors? Which in turn leads to other valid questions... Could such an idea be patented? Should all new mailboxes have this feature incorporated into them or only a certain percentage of them?

Mailboxes have been around for a long time. Does she really believe no one has ever thought of this before? Maybe they haven’t.

One way to find out is to do a patent search (which could cost $600 or more). So let’s say she does the search and there doesn’t seem to be a patent on this particular idea. Since it performs a function, it could qualify for a utility patent which means it would cost her $5,000 or more to get a patent.

But the question still remains... is it a good idea or not?

Should she sink $5,000 plus into a patent before she even knows whether or not her idea is any good? For that matter, is there an easier way to determine if her idea is any good?

The answer to these questions is relative to your area of expertise. If you’re knowledgeable and up-to-date in your area of expertise -