Edith Tolchin

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Secrets of Successful Women Inventors

Edith G. Tolchin knows inventors! Edie has interviewed over 100 inventors for her longtime column in Inventors Digest (www.edietolchin.com/portfolio). In addition, she has owned EGT Global Trading since 1997, which links inventors with China factories, providing an exclusive importing service for product sourcing, quality control, production testing, government safety issues, manufacturing, assistance with shipping and customs clearance, and dock-to-door delivery for inventions of textiles and sewn items. She has held a prestigious U.S. customs broker license since 2002.

Ms. Tolchin has written several non-fiction books about inventing, including “Secrets of Successful Inventing: From Concept to Commerce” (Square One Publishers, 2015), and fiction, including “Fanny on Fire” (www.fannyonfire.com), a recent finalist in the Foreword Reviews INDIES Book Awards. She won publication in the Kelsey Review for fiction in 2020. She’s also written book reviews for the New York Journal of Books

since 2018.

Edith G. Tolchin is currently the owner of The Opinionated

Editor www.opinionatededitor.com/testimonials.

She has really out done herself with her new book “Secrets Of Successful Women Inventors”. It is broken down into two parts. The first part is titled, “Personal Stories from Successful Women Inventors”. You’ll recognize some names like Judy Edwards from Squatty Potty and Meghan Wolfgram the inventor of SwiftPaws because we had them as speakers. However, here each writes their own story giving you a more personal behind-the-scenes glimpse of their struggles.

Part two is, “What You Need To Know-Advice and Resources”. Once again I’m sure some of you will recognize familiar names like Kedma Ough and Joan Lefkowitz. The amount of knowledge they impart is priceless.

All in all, I found this book unbelievably interesting and I believe we will all find the presentation based on it fascinating. I did have one concern when Edith told me about the presentation, “how in the world are you going to fit it all in a single webinar?” but then I realized that if anyone could do it, it would be my old friend Edie.

Be sure to register and attend this incredible webinar on 11/11/23 at 1:00 pm Eastern to lean the Secrets of Successful Women Inventors. Men will learn a lot Too!

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Adam W. Bell

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Trademarks have always been a valuable part of an Intelectual Property Portfolio but even more so now in light of the America Invents Act (AIA) which removed the property rights of inventors. We have seen infringers brought to justice using Trademarks and Copyrights.

Adam W. Bell is a Patent Attorney with over 20 years of law-firm and in-house experiance. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford, a J.D. from the University of California College of the Law (formerly UC Hastings). On top of all of that, He is a direct decendent of Alexander Graham and Maybel Bell. So I guess you can say, he is in the family business.

His website https://www.bell-iplaw.com/ is a treasure trove for Independent Inventors with all sorts of information and programs that help save you money. His latest venture is Trademark-Quick https://trademark-quick.com/ which is a very affordable system to get a strong Trademark.

As you can see, Adam believes in educating his potential clients so they understand the quality of the work his professionals do for them. To that end, his presentation, “11 Big Mistakes To Avoid During The Trademark Process” will teach us how to Own Your Mark.

We all want to move ahead with the confidence of knowing the pitfalls to avoid. Learn from an expert by attending this FREE webinar on 10/14/23 at 1:00 PM Eastern presented by Adam w. Bell BSc, PhD, JD.

No recording will be made, and you Must register to attend, then follow the directions in the email from zoom.   

Click the link to register  https://bit.ly/3sZPT5u

For more information go to our website www.inventors-society.net or call 561-676-5677     

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Amy Jo Brogan

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The Accidental Inventor

Amy Jo Brogan is an extraordinarily driven personality. She began a career in the entertainment industry taking on acting and modeling jobs at 13 years old. By age 15, she earned her Screen Actors Guild card (SAG) and by 16, graduated early so she could work as an adult on the set. All in all, she learned how business is conducted and probably knew more about contract law then most attorneys.

As with many inventors, her venture into this field began with her own personal frustration. Her primary career kept her very active, running here and there, always with her messy coffee cup by her side. She finally got fed up with coffee all over her outfits and truck that she came up with a spill- resistant travel lid for hot and cold beverages.

Unlike most inventors, she did not go naively into this world of thieves. She began to research the field and the fruit of that research is the bases for her presentation as well as her New career as an inventor mentor.

She jokes that she began her journey into inventing by accident but it is by no means an accident that she became the success that she is today.

   

           

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Werner Blumenthal

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How To Make It REAL

Once you have validated that your product has a market, in almost all cases, the next step is to make it REAL or in other words, build a prototype. Now you have a physical representation to show potential customers, retailers, and licensees.

Werner Blumenthal is the perfect person to walk us through this process. He is an actual engineer as opposed to a product designer, who works mostly on how things look. He gets more into the nuts and bolts of how things work. Werner also focuses on design for manufacturing which can save you thousands of dollars during the manufacturing process.

Learn what you should focus on and how seemingly small details can really affect not only product performance … but more importantly, your bottom line. Launching a product from scratch requires the coordination of a lot of moving parts. Before embarking on this journey, learn to think, create and eventually succeed by stacking the odds in your favor. This seminar will summarize the process from design to product fabrication covering such topics as:

  • Idea Workshop
  • Traditional Product Development
  • Conceptual Design vs. Engineering Design
  • Test and Validation of Design, Digitally
  • Design optimization
  • Right down to printing the actual prototype

Mr. Blumenthal is the Founder and CEO of WB Engineering http://wb-3d.com and has been heavily involved in the 3D Printing industry since 2007when he became Florida’s first 3D Systems’ authorized reseller. Werner has experience in design and prototyping of medical devices, consumer products  and aerospace, with clients including Magic Leap, Stryker, Vivex and Boston Science.

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Marcy McKenna Product Validation

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Product Validation

This IS the most important step to bringing a successful product to market that almost every independent inventor never does. Fortunately, I am not part of that group. I have a whole shelf in my garage filled with so, so prototypes and file draws full of research. That doesn’t mean that  I’ve given up on these projects. I get excited when I think of an improvement. There is nobody more qualified to speak about this subject then this month’s speaker.

Marcy McKenna is an award winning inventor and entrepreneur having successfully design, developed, marketed, and launched over 40 of her own products via home shopping (QVC & HSN), ecommerce and in just about every big box store that you can name. 

The combination of Marcy’s depth of product development experiance and breadth of knowledge in the consumer product marketing space has uniquely positioned her as a highly sought after consultant and brand strategist for consumer product that span multiple categories in home shopping, ecommerce, and traditional retail. 

Like many successful inventors, Marcy finds passion in helping her fellow inventors find success in bringing their product ideas to life. To that end, she founded and runs the Woman Inventors Club of America and does speaking engagements all over the country. Over the years, she’s also become known for her helpful inventor and entrepreneur related video content that can be found on her You Tune channel https://bit.ly/3I8KaiH and on her other social media platform https://bit.ly/3piJ2lE .

In 2023, Marcy embarked on an exciting new venture with the Live Shopping platform Market.live, where she is now hosting a weekly Live Series called “InventHer Live!” that helps build awareness for the independent inventor community, while also helping inventors gain meaningful exposure for their product via Live Shopping.

Her website www.marcymckenna.com is a treasure trove of interesting information. Click on the Inventor tab to get access to 3 Great articles but don’t do what I did. I planned to check it out and return later for an in depth read. It wouldn’t let me back on. So when you go, have the time to read them, print them out or download them. 

           

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The Dynamic Duo Nicholas Blanton and Christopher Lackert

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This month we have, not one, but two speakers giving a presentation on Intellectual Property (IP) from the prestigious firm Wasserbauer Intellectual Property Law. The list of their accomplishments are way too long to provide here but can be seen on the company website: https://wasserbauerlaw.com .

Their firm provides practical, business-oriented advice to assist clients and emerging companies in developing and implementing strategies to acquire, develop, protect, enforce and commercialize intellectual property and technology on a worldwide basis.

They have a repeatable and structured way to support and foster the commercialization of early-stage technologies in multiple market sectors. Their team has the expertise required to drive your IP strategy in the preparation of patent and trademark filings, funding, transactions and advice in the U.S. and internationally.

First, Nicholas Blanton, who is based in the Miami area, began his career as a mechanical engineer working on prestigious installations such as the U.S. Embassy in London and an expansion of the Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He is now a licensed patent attorney who has experiance in handling a broad range of technical fields.

His presentation will include the right time to prepare and file a patent application, evaluating a patent search, types of patent applications, application drafting for inventors – what you need to know, and pro se versus working with an attorney.

Next, Christopher Lackert, is an Intellectual Property (IP) Attorney with extensive experience in every aspect of IP both internationally and in the U.S. His focus will be on Trademarks and Copyrights, which have become extremely relevant due to the loss of inventor rights regarding the America Invents Act (AIA).

His topics will include the value of trademarks/copyrights for your business, best practices for protecting your trademarks/copyrights, an overview of the trademark/copyright application/registration process, an overview of trademark/copyright maintenance issues, and an overview of trademark/copyright enforcement issues.

The title of their presentation is, “Intellectual Property Tips & Hacks For Individuals And Small Business With Nick & Chris” and I think that says it all. In these challenging times for Independent Inventors, we need all the tools we can get, just to get by.

 

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Bob Oros

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Bob Oros of Business Development Resources www.bdrinovate.com truly knows the ins and outs of working with corporations better than anyone else I know. After all, he has worked for major corporations marketing and developing over-the-counter products, foods and beverages, etc., for more years than he will admit to. 

In 1983 he founded Business Development Resources, a marketing consultancy specializing in new business and new product development and innovation. BDR’s client roster is “bipolar” with corporate clients on one end as well as inventors and entrepreneurs on the other. 

Domino’s Pizza “Heat Wave” delivery bag and P♥M Wonderful Pomegranate Juice are two projects in which the company played a major role from inception through strategic development. 

Now here is a little secret that most people don’t know. A lot of corporate executives like to keep their hand in the business when they retire. They do this by becoming an Angel Investor, helping startups break into their field. However, most inventors hear Angel Investor and try to pitch their baby changing table to someone who spent a lifetime working for the Ralston Purina company then wonder why they didn’t seem interested. 

Bob has spent his time developing relations with all the top people he comes in contact with and is now putting all that hard work to a new use. When he finds a project that he feels has potential but the client may not have the resources to develop it properly, he calls upon his contacts “In That Field” to see if they have an interest. This is HUGE !!! 

Just imagine, an inventor goes to XYZ Company with a product that is perfect for them, the VP of Product Development actually likes the product but isn’t too sure. The safest answer is NO. Now imagine that same VP gets a call from the person who had his job before they retired  and mentions that they invested in this product. If you were that VP would you be more inclined to give it more attention? I think so.

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Stephen Kerr The Real Deal

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The Real Deal

Stephen Kerr is an incredible person. He is an MD, a very busy surgeon, an inventor, a medical device manufacturer, an author of both medical articles, and the book “How To Develop Your Product Idea Without Going Broke”. It is that publication that will be the basis of his zoom presentation for us.         

Let me tell you, I have read all sorts of books on inventing. However, this is possibly the best that I have ever read. It is concise (only 109 pages), packed with useful information ( some, that you won’t find anywhere else), presented in a step by step formula, that I found fascinating.      

Very early on, he identified a problem that I have found with most inventors. They fall in love with their solution to a problem. Thus, closing their mind to any other solution. This is deadly to the process and usually ends in failure. 

Alternately, he suggests, to research all the existing solutions to the problem, then develop a better answer. This could be a reduction in the cost or possibly an improvement that is easier to use, etc..  

Another thing that I found fascinating was how deep he, personally, gets into a problem. In one instance, he was working on a fashion product. So he bought a sewing machine and studied some U Tube videos on the subject. During another project he had a machinist show him how to use a lathe and milling machine. After which, he bought a pair of used machines for his shop. To me, that’s the Real Deal. 

   

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Lesia Farmer

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Be A Wise Inventor

Lesia Farmer’s journey began by being burned by hot spaghetti. She swore that would never happen again and so she began her research. Eventually, she developed the Trap Door Colander which she licensed to Farberware through Lifetime Brands. 

I remember seeing it many years ago and writing an article about it for our newsletter. It is really quite clever and one of those simple solutions that calls for the response of, “why didn’t I think of that”? 

Now, ten years later, she is manufacturing, marketing, and selling the product herself. She has also become a wealth of information for independent inventors like us. The blog on her website https://inventingwise.com/ is chock full of knowledge that you need to know to become a Wise Inventor. 

Of particular interest, she is committed to save would be inventors from scam companies and phony paid mentors who fleece them out of all of their money. There is a very well written  article on her blog about this and I must say everything she says is exactly what I have experienced with the inventors I have come across.      

In her presentation, like on her blog, she will cover a plethora of topics that inventors need to know in a very simple yet informative format. After all, she Has done it all herself and very successfully.

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Rita Crompton

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Working Well With Others

I don’t care how self-sufficient you are, at some point you will need to hire a service provider and the more you can do yourself the harder it is to work well with others. Most independent inventors don’t have a clue of what to do and blindly spend a ton of money learning the ropes.

Rita Crompton, The Inventor Lady, https://www.inventorlady.com has an excellent reputation throughout the Inventor Community. She has been working with inventors for 2 decades. So chances are … she learned a few things along the way. I highly recommend downloading and reading The Inventor’s Galaxy Guide™ from her website. It is a great starting point for new inventors and if you have been working in the field for a while, you’ll find some great tips.

Before you can work with a service provider, you have to pick the service provider you want to work with. That is the actual title of this program, “How To Pick Service Providers”. Picking the right person can make or break a project. I’m sure that we have all gone through some horror stories that we wished that we could have avoided.

Here is your chance to hear from a true professional how she finds the right service provider for a specific project. 

  • What to look for
  • Where to look
  • How to look

One thing that we can all agree with is Rita’s mantra, “Don’t spend a dime before its’ time”. The wrong service provider can cost you a fortune.