Tag: invention book review

Title: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cashing In On Your Inventions (2nd Edition)

Author: Richard C. Levy

Price: $12.31 (Amazon)

In all honesty, and in the interests of full disclosure, I have to confess that something has always rubbed me the wrong way about the “Complete Idiot’s Guide” series, that, much like the rival “For Dummies” seemingly endless series of books seems to put down its intended audience by its very titles. I’m no “complete idiot” or “dummy,” even if there are things I need to become more informed about, and these titles always seemed to imply some lack of innate intelligence, rather than merely an ignorance of a particular subject matter.

That being said, I’ll have to admit, after perusing this book, that it does take care of business and explains what the novice inventor needs to know in a readable and understandable manner.

If you’ve read any book in this series, you know about the lively and graphically entertaining format, and the way i n which things are carved up into bit size chunks, with lots of little useful details that would otherwise take endless hours to compile. The book is divided into 23 chapters and each chapter into very subject specific subsections. It concludes with a glossary, agreement templates, and a listing of resources.

The chapters on patents and other intellectual property subjects are far more detailed than in many similar books, and cover conducting patent searches for prior art, applying for utility patents, plant patents, design patents, branding a product or line of products, trademarks and trade secrets, copyrights and the patent examination process at the federal level. There may be portions of some of this you may want to skim if it is not immediately applicable to your situation, but the book makes a handy reference work for later reading on such subjects when needed.

The author, Richard C. Levy, is a noted innovator in the realm of toys and games, and is the creator of the popular Furby toy and such games as “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” “Advertising,” and “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.” It is no surprise then to find that he has a lot of practical advice to offer about the devising of toys and games, while not limiting the book’s horizons to that narrow a class of products. He goes into fairly elaborate detail about the importance of creating models, mock-ups and prototypes.

The discussion on how to find a licensing partner and how to present and promote your concept are also very useful and leave little to the imagination, including the use of presentation software like PowerPoint and the use of Skype or similar video conferencing software to make presentations and answers questions from a distance when it is not possible or practical to be there in person.

The chapter on “Negotiating You Deal” is excellent, and includes the whimsical “Levy’s 10 Commandments of Contract Negotiation,” some of which the author admits to having paid a price to learn. The financial nitty-gritty of advances, royalties, guarantees and options are all addressed as is the issue of who pays for the process of obtaining patents and trademarks and in whose name they are held.

In the end, I have to acknowledge that this is a well-written, information packaged, and beneficial book for inventors.

I just still wish they would call it something like “The Intelligent Person’s Guide to Cashing In On Your Inventions!”

(Available in Paperback and Kindle from Amazon)

Title: The Inventor’s Bible: How to Market and License Your Brilliant Ideas

Author: Ronald Louis Docie Sr.

Cost: $15.99 At Amazon

Book Review

Clocking in at 376 pages, substantially longer than many similar books, this “Inventor’s Bible” begins with chapters on how to commercialize your general concept into a marketable product, formulating a strategy for obtaining patent protection, doing market and industry research and test marketing to fine tune a product concept, and how to go about the licensing process, including the important role that the use of disclosure agreements, properly drafted, can play in being able to present your invention or idea to companies without having it be stolen. Each chapter ends with a case study, making the general concepts clear in a living way.

The Inventor’s Bible also discusses an often neglected topic—the fact that ultimately, you often can no longer do it alone in today’s market. A chapter entitled “Victory through Teamwork” contains a frank discussion of when it is essential to use professional help in obtaining patent protection, effectively communicating your invention, and responding proactively to possible patent infringement. It also examines how to go about the search to find and hire the best competent professionals to be on your “team.”  An appendix contains a number of useful charts, an overview of the patent process, criteria to evaluate your invention, and a boilerplate disclosure agreement that can easily be modified and used.

A section towards the end labeled resources is by itself worth the relatively modest price of this substantial book, covering essential information on government contracts and programs, conducting patent searches, other valuable publications for inventors, information about trade shows, and resources for small businesses generally.

The Inventor’s Bible comes in both paperback and ebook editions. A terrific 74-page workbook presented at the very end summarizes in many ways the steps outlined in more detail throughout the text and guides the user step by step through the process of transforming your invention or concept into a viable and marketable product. There is very useful contact information for both manufacturers and distributors whose participation can mean all the difference between a runaway good seller and a product that, despite any inherent great potential just sits on the shelf unnoticed.

Make no mistake about it—this is a book for the inventor who is ready to get down and dirty and get serious about making money with their idea. It is not for the idly curious or the dilettante unwilling to put in some serious effort and apply some serious thought. For those willing to put in the time and effort, it is likely that the rewards will come, provided of course, that the initial invention or concept was worthy of being marketed.

The Inventor’s Bible could have benefited from a more det ailed discussion of publicity, advertising, and public relations, those essential elements to creating a buzz about a product and making a new product something that the consumer has to have and believes he really needs, even if there was no real “need” for it before.

(Available in both Paperback and Kindle editions)

Title: How to License Your Million Dollar Idea: Cash In On Your Inventions, New Product Ideas, Software, Web Business Ideas, And More

Author: Harvey Reese

Cost: $15.72 At Amazon

Book Review

This is the now third edition of what has become regarded as a venerable basic bible for many inventors, whether rightly or wrongly. The focus of How to License Your Million Dollar Idea is extremely broad and incorporates, in its title and its contents, both “inventions” in the traditional sense, whether consisting of tangible products or software such as smartphone apps, and the far more amorphous and intangible licensable ideas like new methods of doing business on the web.

That said, the author may have weakened the focus of a generally valuable book by trying to do too much in one book. The sections discussing the licensing of software, for instance, have a bit of a flavor of being simply slapped together and added at the last minute without any real depth. The topic is clearly worthy of more detailed treatment, and the reality is that the intellectual property issues involved there, by themselv es, are relatively complex, and almost necessitate a fuller treatment addressing some of the ways in which patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret principles can overlap and interact.

There is increasingly, it seems to me, a real need for a book that focuses in on the sole topic of generating, protecting, and licensing new methods of doing business on the Internet. While the once rising star that was Groupon, for instance, may have become somewhat eclipsed recently, the story of how that concept was developed and how it so quickly became popularized has a host of lessons for the creative inventor lurking in it. Groupon was hardly the first such phenomenon, and the next Groupon, or Facebook, or… is undoubtedly out there, today not more than a glimmer in a person’s eye. This book hints at that amazing prospect, but does not really attempt to fully explore it.

How to License Your Million Dollar Idea has also been criticized by some for engaging in a bit too much promotion and marketing of the author’s own invention marketing services, but I think that any mature and worldly wise reader will be able to spot such statements and take them with a grain of salt.

The strength of the book is its description of the licensing process, drawn from the author’s own experiences and knowledge of the contemporary marketplace. It is less helpful when it comes to methods of generating ideas, although he does spend some time on it, and gives some concrete historical examples, but without a truly fleshed out analysis of the brainstorming process that led to the spark of invention. This may be less troubling for those of us who already have a head clogged full of innovations, who really need specific knowledge as to how to convert all that creativity into a marketable commodity.

How to License Your Million Dollar Idea is also relatively weak on concretely presenting steps to take to protect a licensable idea or concept. In summation, while there is much of value here, this may not necessarily be the best book to begin with if you are new to the subject area.

(Paperback and Kindle Editions are available of the book).