Inventors' Tidbits

Product Information

Do you have a product idea that needs to get to market quickly? You might want to consider using a rapid prototyping service bureau to make your model quickly and accurately.

What is rapid prototyping? It’s a way to make a solid, three dimensional model of your product using foam, plastic or metal. It can happen very quickly. Ten years ago, a model could have taken a year to make. The company would start with product design, then made computer models in two dimensions, then a final computer model in three dimensions and finally a three dimensional prototype. Rapid prototyping, however, can now make a three dimension model in less than a day. At prices that can average @ $10,000, the process itself is not cheap. Still, it can provide significant savings compared to the old ways of making prototypes and has the added advantage that the information used to generate the model can be directly shipped to tool and die makers (often in Asia) as data, cutting additional time from the development cycle.

Want to know more about what rapid prototyping can do? NASA has a nifty site that talks about many of the capabilities state-of-the-art facilities can offer. You can’t get them to make your models, but you’ll be better prepared when you talk to your rapid prototyping service bureau. Check them out at: http://www.nasatech.com/Briefs/Mar00/NPO20505.html

Intellectual Property

Do you want to find out if your idea can be patented? Would you like to do your own trademark search? You can check to see if the U.S. government has got it in their database at http://www.uspto.gov/ , but to make sure you’re really clear you may want to check for information from other countries or trademarks registered at the state level. There is help at http://www.micropatent.com/ where you can do your own search for a reasonable access fee.

What can you do if your patented product has competition from a clone? It can be expensive to defend yourself. For the small company, though, there is an alternative to going it yourself. You can purchase infringement enforcement insurance, covering patents, trademarks and copyrights. Worse, what if you find out that a deep pockets company is claiming their patent covers your product? In many cases, legal action could mean the end of your company, even if they’re clearly wrong, just because it’s so expensive to defend yourself. If you purchase patent infringement defense cost reimbursement insurance, it will reimburse you for your legal expenses. You can check out one company that offers these at Intellectual Property Insurance services corporation at http://www.infringeins.com/ .

-Cindy Nemeth-Johannes