INVENTION

Is being an innovator difficult? Well, the short answer is yes. Why? Well it takes time, discipline, money, and lots of patience. Sure, sure, an idea is born and birthed, but it doesn't mean that it will grow up to become something. Some ideas need to be filtered as there is not enough time in the day or days in the year to push things through. Invention needs vendors, it needs manufacturers, and yes it does need investment. The typical patent can run in the US from 5k to 10k. Then there are the maintenance fees every few years that can range fro 3-10k and then, yes there is more, it takes more than 2 1/2 years to be awarded a patent. Even if the inventor has the greatest invention that will change the world, many companies require that it be patented first. Examples of companies that do that are Proctor & Gamble, 3M and Avery Dennison. So, lets say you invented something cool and the perfect company is P&G, than you would have to invest at least 2.5 years and $5,000 to see if they may be interested. Of course, there is always the chance that A)someone else has invented what you invented and B)the patent office denies the patent application. And if that wasn't enough, perhaps you need to hire some design services and prototype shops to turn the idea on paper into something real and tangible. Then if this is the case your 5k investment may look cheap.

Inventing is not easy. Perhaps it was easier in Edison or Tesla's day. For the lone inventor in today's time, it may take the same effort, but it requires a bit of marketing magic that many innovators may not have in their skill set.

To learn about some amazing and successful inventors, check out www.muzz.com and select inventors.