September 3, 2010, Newsletter Issue #234: Market Research on New Inventions

Tip of the Week

Perhaps you think you just discovered the mother of invention, an idea so great you'll go straight to the top of the sales charts and be a famous guest on Oprah or Dateline. But, just because you have been a consumer of products all your life and have never seen your idea in a store does not mean it doesn't exist. It also doesn't mean that someone else tried to market it before and found that a significant market did not exist or that people weren't willing to pay a high enough price for the product to justify its mass production costs. If you think you've created the latest invention to hit the streets, you should keep a detailed log book regarding the date of the conception and the product's development to date. This will help you establish yourself as the authentic inventor later on in case someone else has the idea or steals it from you. But, before you embark on creating a prototype and filing for a patent, you should do some market research. This initial stage of research can be done online or at the library. A reference librarian may even help you search more efficiently. You don't have to reveal the details of your creation to the librarian, just initial ideas about the market segments you hope to reach. During this stage of market research, you want to find everything you can on the invention's related markets, customers and current manufacturers and sellers already in the market segment. Unfortunately, you might find that the product already exists or your idea is not enough of an improvement on a current product to make much difference to the buying public. If that's the case, you can continue working on other ideas you have instead of wasting time and money pursuing a patent that is likely to be turned down. You might even get a better idea to work on next. If your initial search reveals a place in the market for your unique product, you can then approach the next steps including filing for a patent, creating a prototype, making adjustments, obtaining funding and selling your idea to stores who will market it. Then, you can use what you learned to better present your idea to those who will need to believe in it as much as you do.

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