Natural Entrepreneur: Independent Inventors Conference

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Independent Inventors Conference

New Hampshire hosts this national conference in August 2004

by Todd A. Sullivan, Hayes Soloway, Manchester, NH

New Hampshire has become a haven for independent inventors and, for one weekend later this summer, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will help turn Concord, NH into a Mecca for independent inventors across the country.

Organizers of the Ninth Annual Independent Inventors Conference, which is co-sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the National Inventors Hall of Fame, recently announced Franklin Pierce Law Center will serve as the host of the conference August 20-21, 2004. Top USPTO officials including Jon Dudas, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Nicholas Godici, Commissioner for Patents will make the trip to Concord to take part in the event that weekend.

New Hampshire is an apt location for this conference. Approximately ten United States patents are issued every month to inventors residing in the State of New Hampshire who have not assigned their patents to an employer, presumably because they are not beholden to an employer. These issued patents constitute approximately 10-15% of the United States patents obtained by New Hampshire inventors. The remaining 85-90% obtained by New Hampshire inventors are issued to businesses, including those patents awarded to independent inventors who have their patents issued to their self-formed companies.

Whether owing to the rugged individualism characterizing the citizenship of NH or the natural result of having an abundantly skilled workforce, the sheer volume of independent inventors investing in their own ideas within this State is staggering.

A well known example is Dean Kamen, whose first independent inventor patent was issued in 1979 - 4,137,915, which covered a flow control for an intravenous feeding system. It was the first of fourteen independent patents which ran through 1992 and were all related to flow controls. Since 1992, Dean Kamen has been an inventor for 67 different patents that have been assigned to his company, DEKA Products Limited Partnership (DEKA, of course, being an abbreviation for DEan KAmen), in Manchester, NH. The majority of the patents assigned to DEKA are also related to flow control, although in 1997 the first of many vehicular inventions credited, in part, to Dean Kamen and assigned to DEKA, were issued. Since 2000, Dean Kamen has also been an inventor on another seven patents that have been issued to New Power Concepts, LLC of Manchester.

What is an independent inventor? According to the USPTO, anyone developing an invention for themselves or their own small company and at their own expense is an independent inventor. The USPTO web site has information specifically directed toward the independent inventor (http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/). The site addresses many of the frequent questions that independent inventors must broach for the first time. It also lists helpful information regarding invention promotion firms, including what to do if you are the victim of invention promotion fraud (that is, marketing firms who charge up-front fees to promote your invention but deliver no results).

Another useful source of information for independent inventors in New Hampshire is a patent attorney. Presently, there are just over one hundred registered patent attorneys and agents in the State, including some patent attorneys who have retired from practice and some patent agents who are attending Franklin Pierce Law Center. Most of patent attorneys have worked with independent inventors, guiding them through the patent application process, and have assisted them in foreseeing and recognizing the issues that are likely to crop up in the future.

For a patent attorney, there isn’t a more rewarding experience than helping an independent inventor acquire a patent that ends up serving as the basis for a successful business. Many New Hampshire patent attorneys will be on hand at the Independent Inventors Conference volunteering their time to assist inventor attendees.

Details on the Independent Inventors Conference

The conference will feature presentations by intellectual property experts, successful inventors, marketing and licensing experts and inductees from the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Topics to be covered at the conference include trademarks, copyrights, utility and design patents, provisional patent applications, invention promotion firms, electronic filing and on-line access, licensing and marketing. The schedule will include time for one-on-one sessions with the experts and ample opportunity for inventors to network. Space is limited and the registration deadline is August 13. The fee is $100 per person or $90 for persons aged 55 and older. The National Inventors Hall of Fame is taking registrations through their website at http://www.invent.org/.

Todd A. Sullivan, an associate with Hayes Soloway. Todd is a New Hampshire Patent Attorney and graduate of Franklin Pierce Law Center. Todd and Hayes Soloway will be contributing a series of articles over the coming weeks directed toward patent information for the independent inventor.He can be reached at tsullivan@hayes-soloway.com

Upcoming Events

Feb 21 (8-9:30a): NH Forum on the Future, NHHTC, CR Sparks, Bedford, NH

March 1 (6:30-8:30p): Women's Business Center and MicroCredit-NH Networking Event, Bank of America, Portsmouth, NH

March 6 (10a-noon): Growth Capital Resources in New Hampshire, City of Nashua, Office of Economic Development, Daniel Webster College, Nashua, NH

March 8: (12pm -1pm) Break the Rules and Close More Sales, Amoskeag Business Incubator, Manchester, NH

March 16: Peak Pitch (pitch your plan to invstors on the chairlift), Mt. Sunapee, NH ($)

March 22: Breaking Trends in Web Develoment, UVCIA, Hanover, NH ($)

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