Beyond The Napkin Phase: From Concept To Invention

Beyond The Napkin Phase: From Concept To Invention

Ever sit in a bar with your buddies, and between sips of laughter and handcrafted beers, your eyes suddenly twitch, your back straightens, and your mind flashes like a laser-show? You instantly realize that you’ve been given a gift. There it sits in your endorphin-drenched brain: a brand-new, earth-shaking, mind-illuminating idea - as if beamed to your skull from a distant realm. With a sense of gravity, you slam your beer on your napkin and shout: “Holy moly, I’ve got it!”

You’re now drinking from the firehose of imagination. You feverishly draw abstract visions on every bar napkin within reach. Your friends stare at you in disbelief, “Are you okay?” You’re more than okay! You’re a brilliant beast who just gave birth to your future. For the first time in your life, you’re 100% confident that you’ve struck gold. You’re certain that, within minutes, the Google Gods will hire you as their newest prodigy-futurist. Salary TBD at 7-figures. Maybe 8.

This is not just a fantasy brain-fart. This is your moment of “invention conception,” as defined by law. More specifically, “Conception is the formation in the mind of the inventor, of a definite and permanent idea of the complete and operative invention, as it is hereafter to be applied in practice,” Hybritech, Inc. v. Monoclonal Antibodies, Inc.

Right about now you need to grab that stack of napkins and hide in the bathroom. Why? According to some patent attorneys, this is when other inventors have lost their chance for profoundly lucrative windfalls. Luckily for you, the America Invents Act defends the first-inventor-to-file system. It guarantees that the first person to file a patent application will be the holder and owner of the patent. In other words, even if someone had the idea before you, but you file first, you’ll be awarded the patent.

In case you already spilled the beans to your pals, don’t fret. Gene Quinn of Ipwatchdog.com says, “To be considered an inventor, people must contribute to conception (i.e., the mental aspect of inventing), no matter how much time and energy they put into the project.” Under the law, you have one year from the moment you reveal your ideas in public to file for a patent.

Regardless, it’s best to keep your brilliant idea under wraps - at least for now. You want to protect your future, right?! Heck, yeah!

When you get home from the bar with pockets full of vision-napkins, be sure to grab a cup of coffee and organize your ideas. Stay up all night. Let your imagination fly. Write down every aspect of your concept, in glorious, colorful detail.

Make sketches. Use crayons. Put on a funny hat. Build the workflow. Map out your market strategy, including customer avatars, and make a list of potential buyers.

Now, it’s time to button-up your game plan.

1.   “Initial conception” is a bit like giving birth to triplets. It’ll be a mixture of pain, passion, and joy. You might even have uncontrollable fits of laughter. After all, you’re about to be a billionaire.

2.   After you’ve formulated your ideas past the napkin stage, and into digital documents, conduct an in-depth, online search. Find every related idea that’s similar to yours. Make a detailed list of what’s out there. If you want to do this correctly, do it in stealth: use a secure, incognito browser and VPN.

3.   Now that you’ve identified similar inventions, you’ll likely discover several aspects of your invention already being monetized in the marketplace. That’s okay. As long as you have a unique premise and process, you’ll be able to stand your ground and carve out your niche. If the other inventions feel too similar to yours, don’t get discouraged. Keep pushing forward. Even the slightest difference between your idea and a pre-existing idea or product could easily result in your own unique intellectual property (IP).

4.   As you prep your package, ask yourself, “What’s the advantage of my invention?” and “Why is my invention considered an improvement on current entries in the market, or at least different from the herd?” Illustrate your answers in detail. Log every disparity. For each talking point and value proposition, identify 5-10 reasons why your concept is unique.

5.   You can personally file your provisional or non-provisional patent for a few hundred bucks, or better yet, enlist the help of a patent attorney. They can be expensive, but they’ll find holes in your application that you could easily miss.

6.   With your patent package ready-to-go, either submit it yourself or sign a contract with your patent attorney and relay your secrets to her. Once engaged, your new attorney will review your package, search a variety of databases, and help you draft and submit a strong patent application.

7.   After filing your patent application, a patent office examiner will conduct an extensive search of US government records. After your invention is further vetted and examined, you might hear from the patent office with questions. If the questions are intense and overwhelming, and if you haven’t yet hired a patent attorney, this would be a good time to engage a lawyer.

8.   After a year or so, if you’ve done your homework and provided sufficient answers to everybody’s questions, you’ll be granted a US patent. This will feel incredibly empowering and exciting! Relish the moment!

9.   Invite your bar buddies out for drinks and tell them the good news. This is truly a day to celebrate!

Congratulations on manifesting your invention! Now, the hard work begins. Do you form a company? Do you try to sell the patent? Do you know how to build a team?

You can learn all this and more at InventNowClub.com. We’re ready for you!

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