Inspiring Inventors

Attending the 13^th Annual Independent Inventors Conference was an inspiring experience. I was invited to speak at the Conference, which was sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, along with Louis Foreman the Executive Producer of the Emmy Award winning program “Every Day Edisons.”

Speaking with Louis was an honor in itself, but I was overwhelmed when I opened the program and saw myself described as “one of the Nation’s most inspirational independent inventors.” WOW! They were talking about me!!

At that moment I knew my job was to join Louis and the other speakers in reinforcing the idea that the “American Dream” is accessible to inventors today. Our message: if you have that idea that makes life a little better and are willing to do your homework, you can take your idea the distance it takes to be successful. We spoke to a room filled with creative minds that were overflowing with unique and clever ideas. Faces were turned to us looking for hope and encouragement.

I am motivated to help other inventors because there wasn’t anyone to ask “how to” when I began my inventor’s journey. I was alone. Now inventors have a multitude of resources and experts willing to share information. The best part is that most of the advice and information you need to get started is free.

One of my proudest moments at the conference was when my son Joe turned to me and said, “You really inspire people, Mom! I am honored to be your son!”

I knew my trip was successful when I returned home to find this e-mail:

"[T]hank your for having the courage to follow your idea to fruition and for being an example to me and countless others - particularly women - on how they too can live the life of their dreams and support their families in the process. I was truly blessed and will be forever grateful and look forward to the time that I can be such a light to others as you have been to me."

Patricia B., Bethesda, Maryland

Conference Attendee, USPTO Independent Inventors Conference, Washington, DC, August 8-9, 2008.

Talk About Patenting

This week I head to Washington D.C. with my son Joe. I’ve been invited to be a guest speaker at the 13th Annual Independent Inventors Conference which is sponsored by United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Inventors Hall of Fame. The USPTO leads the way in creating and supporting a market-driven intellectual property system for the 21st Century.

There is nothing more daunting to a new inventor than trying to get an idea patented. There is no one to hold your hand and walk you through the process unless you have a patent attorney. And although it is an important step in the inventing journey, it is not the first step. An inventor has to know as much as they can about the product, the industry, the costs, and the potential customer before they even think about getting a patent or a patent attorney.

That’s why I’m delighted to have an opportunity to speak to inventors. I’d love to help them avoid some of the problems that I faced in the beginning. I’ll be talking about my story as a successful independent inventor and the things I have learned along the way, including:

• the importance of doing your homework,
• how to better position yourself for a successful launch,
• what you can do to protect yourself and avoid pitfalls,
• how to get your product into the right hands,
• where you can go for reputable resources.

You can watch a live web cast of the general sessions of the conference on Friday and Saturday at the USPTO’s website, www.uspto.gov. Log on Friday morning at 8 a.m.EST and follow the instructions to access the web cast.

The truly exciting part of this trip is that my son who is a video photographer will be following me around with his camera throughout the conference to document my adventure so I can share them with you. Look for a follow up next week when I’ll be posting segments of my speech and hopefully some video footage.