Short List For Busy People
If you have an idea, we recommend that you look around, here and
elsewhere, before you leap into anything. We advocate that you learn
as much as possible so that you can better deal with the world of
innovation.
There is no "cook book" in this business. But there are
guidelines and principles to follow. See Intellectual
Property for
examples. We need first of all to know what your ideas and expectations
are and something about you as a person. From there, virtually any
direction is possible. In that spirit "Short List" is a
condensation of our site.
Invention Assessment
Assess Your Idea — Innovation Institute, Walmart Innovation
Network, WIN, Center for Business & Economic Development Southwest
Missouri State University. Preliminary Innovation Evaluation System,
PIES, can be down loaded in any of several formats. Useful to inventors.
Online idea assessments tend to be valid in the limited sense that
ideas with low scores typically go nowhere while high scores only
indicate a possibility; there is no guarantee. Modest fee.
Invention Evaluation
Form — Neustel Law Offices. We concur
with the approach taken by this site. Self scoring. Free.
Learn how to proceed — Ideas | Anatomy
of a Patent | Creativity | Patent
It Yourself | Patent
Pro Software,
We are of the opinion that there is no such thing as software that
can do a complete and proper job on a patent application, but it
may have use in organizing, structuring and phrasing. So also we
recommend that an attorney or agent review your work of art before
you file.
Discover the world of knowledge — Libraries / Scientific Information
Find your own niche — Inventorship | Entrepreneurship | Creativity.
Amargosa sites.
Add to your library — Inventor
Help — Inventor's Bookstore:
Jack Lander. Jack posts only the top value books for inventors.
Retain an attorney — Patent
Attorneys — Neustel Law
Offices. Specialists in patents, trademarks and copyrights. Site
also contains much useful information for the inventor.
Read about scams — Inventnet.com/scam — The
inventor's network, non-profit site. Describes how to distinguish
legitimate proposals from scams.
Amargosa
We are ready to help at planting time with pro bono advice.
Creativity — Amargosa. A quick walk through the various dimensions
of creativity—how to conceive an idea
Ideas — Page
for inventors who have an idea.
Inventorship | Entrepreneurship Notes
for the curious.
Getting Started with the Business of Invention
Remember, patents strong enough and unique enough for commercialization
come from combined sophistication in: 1) patent law, 2) writing patent
specifications, 3) drawing claims that are protective both broadly
and narrowly, 4) manufacturing costs if you manufacture yourself,
and 5) the market/competition. It is most important that the inventor
know just what it is that he/she has invented and how it all fits
together in the eyes of the patent examiner and what he/she will
allow. It also helps to know who is who in manufacturing and how
to negotiate. There is no substitute for knowledge and knowing where
to go for what.
Fraud Awareness — A most important issue.
Consumer Protection — FTC.
The place to start.
Federal Trade Commission — FTC. "Working for consumer
protection and a competitive marketplace." Inventor's door for
registering complaints with the folks that can do something about
it. This site has a lot of useful information and links and is the
place to go if you suspect a scam. See also: Invention Promotion
Firms — FTC.
"Good
Guys" — National Inventor Fraud Center; Neustel
Law Offices, LTD. Whatever an inventor / entrepreneur might need
can be found on this page. We highly recommend it.
Invention
Promotion Firms — FTC. Heads up, and common sense
tips on how to detect fraudulent operations straight from Uncle
Sam.
InventorEd — Excellent
place to start. If you are a novice, try: http://www.inventored.org/novice/.
Inventnet.com/scam | Inventor
Red Flags | Inventor
Alert — Additional
caution lists .
See also Inventor Fraud and California
Codes — California.
General information of interest.
Scamsters
Abound — Business
Week / McGraw Hill. Late news from the FTC.
Creativity — Where it all starts
Creativity — Amargosa.
A quick walk through the various dimensions of creativity. An idea
is only creative when it becomes reality and that requires the human
element.
How Stuff Works — PBY
Publishing Co. Interactive and well done with a search engine. The
intellectually curious will love this user friendly site. Recommended
for inventors of all stripes and ages.
Multiple
Intelligences — Thomas Armstrong. Eight ways of "thinking".
A useful introduction to this interesting field.
Enabling Links
Anatomy
of a Patent — U. S. PTO. Describes the elements of
a patent. Helpful for the first timer.
Books about Inventing — The Inventor's bookstore. "Books
on the invention, patenting, marketing, and other inventor's
related subjects."
Basic
Facts About Inventions — Geocities. A
brief lay-person's guide.
US Copyright
Office — A
useful site covering more that copyrights. You can join a forum
or contact people who might assist you.
Inventnet.com — The
inventor's network, non-profit site. For the independent inventor
looking for information on how to develop and market his/her
new invention. Excellent range of services. Forum is especially
useful and easy to join, requires password.
Inventor
Help — Inventor's Bookstore: Jack Lander. Jack posts
only the top value books for inventors. Jack is also a businessman
who understands the real world. Another COOL guy.
Patent Attorneys — Neustel
Law Offices. Specialists in patents, trademarks and copyrights.
Site also contains much useful information for the inventor.
Patent It Yourself — David
Pressman. A good place to order David Pressman's classic and
best selling do-it-yourself book on patents.
U.S. Patent and Trade Mark Office,
PTO — U. S. PTO Site. Primary
site for general information, guides, searches, rules, legal
materials, fees, petitions, data, trademarks, document formats,
public affairs.
Invention Assessment
Assess Your Idea — Innovation Institute, Walmart Innovation
Network, WIN, Center for Business & Economic Development Southwest
Missouri State University. Preliminary Innovation Evaluation System,
PIES, can be down loaded in any of several formats. Useful to inventors.
PIES tends to be valid in that ideas with low scores typically go
nowhere while high scorers only indicate a possibility; there is
no guarantee. Modest fee.
Innovation Evaluation — University of Wollongong. With this
site open, click on "Innovation Advice & Support" for
a 32 question self evaluation. Also provides on-line exhibitions
for inventors and other support. An excellent site.
Marketing
your invention
Inventions that
Become Profitable — Nolo Press. "License
Your Invention". ISBN: 0-87337-407-X. Covers the nuts and bolts
of many issues with forms and discussion. Good luck.
Inventions for
Sale — Inventnet. Postings of patents issued
and pending that are for sale.
Entrepreneur network — TEN,
a non-profit corporation; Ed Zimmer hangs out here. Dedicated to
helping Midwest inventors and entrepreneurs through information and
connection.
Innovation Evaluation — TIRC
University of Wollongong. Provides on-line exhibitions for inventors
and other support. An excellent site.
ThinkUSA — Murray Ansell. Links markets and technology world
wide. "…services includes market research, market-entry
strategy development, product development, and arrangement of both
manufacturing licenses and distribution agreements."
Personal Trading Company — eBay
Inc. One of the largest of its kind. If traffic is what you want,
you might give this site a try.
Invent It — Inventions
Marketing Service. A service center providing strategies for inventors
for linking their idea to manufacturers.
Information / Raising Capital / IPOs / DPOs
Home based Entrepreneur — SCORE
Electronic Counseling. Counsellors to America's Small Business.
Investment
Banking — Yahoo database, business, economy, finance,
investment, banking.
Private Stock
Offerings — Cambridge Financial Services. Alternative
to IPO, software to aid the process, links to further resources.
Proposal
Preparation — JADE Research Corp. "The SBIR
Resource Center".
SEC Search EDGAR — US
Govt Securities and Exchange Commission. This is a searchable index.
See also: SEC
Home Page
Women in Enterprise — GROW
Business Series. Women in Enterprise deliver an ongoing series of
business training modules with a strong focus on networking among
the women participants.
Health / Bio Chemistry
Health Sciences Libraries Consortium — The
Health Sciences Libraries Consortium is a not-for-profit organization
founded to promote information sharing among its members.
Medical-Informatics — Galaxy.
Telemedicine, remote consultation - telepathology, teleradiology.
National Institutes of Health — News,
grants, search engine.
National Women's Health — Female
health issues, clinics listing
PubMed — Scanned
on a daily basis by LeadDiscovery's panel of industrial researchers
for breaking publications with drug discovery potential. Selected
publications are disseminated to the drug discovery community through
DailyUpdates.
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human
Services — News, search, gateways,
HHS agencies
Women's Health Weekly — Article
database, links.
Energy
U.S. DOE Energy Research, ER — Info and news, lab & grant
info, ER science, support organizations.
Environment
Earthtimes — Independent
publication on environment and current affairs, daily on the web.
Environmental
Libraries — Yahoo Links.
Environmental Protection
Agency — EPA home page, news, publications,
data bases & software, laws, regulations, projects, programs.
Recycler's
World — Organized by commodity.
Technologies (Information/Resources)
Computer
Information Center — Current news and events.
Consulting — SRI Consulting. "Specializes in creating
growth and opportunity from technology advancements and innovation." Provides
broad world views appropriate for our times. Their "Seven Defining
Forces" read more like Seven Opportunities to us. Excellent
site for the strategic mind.
Engineering
Libraries — Yahoo Links. Serves audiences of wide
and diverse needs.
Engineering
/ Technology — Galaxy. A Professional's Guide
to a world of information.
High
Tech seminars, Conferences & Trade Shows — Centerpiece
is an information matrix.
Invention Dimension — MIT.
Lemelson-MIT Awards program, Invention related links, what's new,
inventor of the week.
Physics
Libraries — Yahoo Links
Technology Web
Site Guide — WebCrawler search engine for technology.
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