Ten top tips for novice inventors

26/04/13

Steve van Dulken, Research Specialist, worked at the Library for 39 years and has a vast range of knowledge about patents, trade marks and designs.

He has published books in his field and had the popular British Library blog, patent search. He has also given expert advice in radio, newspapers and magazines interviews.

To mark World Intellectual Property Day which encourages innovation and creativity, Steve has shared his top tips for novice inventors so that you can prevent mistakes.

1. Naivety

Be careful and thoughtful. I have met many inventors who have said, “everyone will love my product” or “I am going to make a huge fortune” without thinking it through which can make it difficult to realise your idea.

2. Failing to plan

Think through what you want to achieve and then write a realistic business plan based on it. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

3. Is there a market at the right price?

It may be a good idea but is there a market of a reasonable size and can you make a profit? Sometimes the solution costs so much that there's a tiny market. Use numbers to try to work out estimates if you can.

4. Can it easily be copied?

Ensure your idea cannot be easily copied, to increase your chance of raising finance. Perhaps it cannot be patented, or a simple modification is all that is needed for a competitor to launch a rival product.

5. Do you have finance in place?

Do not make the assumption that it only costs a few hundred pounds to launch a successful product. Even if you get a company to license the idea, but you still need to spend a lot of money to advance the idea by for example protecting the idea as fully as possible and making a prototype.

6. Being too greedy

Be aware, if a product costs £10 in the shops the inventor gets several pounds. He or she would be lucky to get 40 pence several pounds for each one sold.

6. Understand the attitude of the other person

In negotiations, always remember that the person on the other side of the table wants something too. They want you to honour contracts, just as you would expect them to keep their word.

7. Do you have the right qualities to make the invention succeed

Carry out a SWOT analysis of yourself: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Often an inventor has a good idea but has no skills such as in engineering, accountancy and marketing to push the idea further. If they need an operation in hospital they expect an expert to do the surgery.

8. Use experts to advance the idea

People with specialised skills in patent searching, drafting patents, making prototypes, production engineering, working out marketing strategies and so on are usually vital to ensuring that the invention is properly protected, manufactured and marketed.

9. Use all aspects of intellectual property to protect it

Don't set out with the idea that you want to patent an invention. You want to protect your idea as fully as possible using intellectual property. This could involve using patents, for function; designs, for looks; trade marks, for what the product is called; and copyright for a variety of possibilities including artwork, packaging and instructions.

It’s a tough world out there and trying to make money out of an invention is rarely easy but you can use the wealth of information and advice at the Centre to help you.

Read our IP information page for more tips and guidance on how to commercialise your product or invention.