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10 questions for investors judging inventions
Bankrate.com
Bob DeMatteis, author of From
Patent to Profit, offers 10 questions for investors to consider
when judging the viability of an invention.
1. Does the invention really save time and/or money
for customers/users?
2. Do they get excited about it when they use it?
Remember -- inventions that elicit positive emotions are invariably
the most successful ones. Does this invention raise the emotions
of the user?
3. Is there ample capacity to ramp up?
4. What barriers (other than development money) to
entry will there be? Raw material supply? Distribution?
5. Is it a one-product product line?
6. Who is going to get it sold and who are his/her
contacts?
7. Is it best to produce the product overseas, thus
requiring a continuous flow of inventory?
8. Do the manufacturing and marketing teams have a
recent and positive track record in launching new niche products?
9. Is the new product blanketed by broad-scope patent
protection? If patents have not issued yet, can your patent attorney
and your patent research verify the claims?
10. Is everyone -- inventor, investor, manufacturing
and marketing team -- totally committed to this project? Does the
team operate with a sense of urgency to meet every deadline and
every manufacturing and sales projection?
-- Posted:
April 13, 2001
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