This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
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1. THE BEGINNING
This innovation initially came to life when…
I have a bitter history with patents. My invention record is not too shabby though; several Inventor of the Year accolades, Engineering Excellence at the World Metro Summit, CES Design & Engineering Award (twice!).
However, I have long wondered why it’s so difficult for inventors to succeed; involved in innovation in many industries (electronics, health, transportation, computing, energy, etc), I saw a pattern.
The One Dollar Patent act simply says to inventors, “You invented that? Great. Tell us all, pay one dollar (peppercorn, etc), get your a into g and get it into production. We will hold your rights till then.”
2. WHAT & HOW
The purpose of this innovation is to…
…solve the problem of low success/high failure rate of new inventions; typically less than one per cent. Inventors will know that whatever rights belong to them will still be there when they get to the market.
It does this by…
Instead of demanding IP rights be determined as quickly as possible (not unlike demanding that 12 month old babies sit their university entrance exams), the One Dollar Patent allows the inventor to concentrate all their resources on R&D, production, marketing, etc. and have a successful product (often a factor in patentability). The current system often bankrupts inventor before commercialisation; even before prototype.
3. PURPOSE & BENEFITS
This innovation improves on what came before because…
…by providing inventions a most nurturing environment, we can see about a 3,000 to 5,000 per cent increase in successful inventions; from less than one per cent now to 30 to 50 per cent. Currently over 99 per cent are stillborn and everybody says it’s the inventor’s fault for not doing this or that. The One Dollar Patent Act recognises that inventors are very often newbies and accounts for that.
Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…
Society will benefit greatly, having many more problems solved (it’s been said civilisation is doomed, after all). End users get a higher quality of life and inventors get justly rewarded for their endeavours and may go on to solve more of the planet’s biggest problems.
4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
In the past, this problem was solved by…
It was not yet solved. This problem has arisen by giving one special interest group an illegal monopoly to everybody’s inventions. The current system kills many inventions and the effects on the inventor’s family and friends can also be disastrous.
The only alternative to date is marking the invention PSW (Patented by Smith and Wesson), which should be far more common than it is.
Its predecessors/competitors include…
Trade secrets sometimes help protect one’s IP. However, often pirates dismantle the product and copy it; sometimes, just by reverse engineering the function.
The only other alternative, as mentioned above, marking the invention PSW (Patented by Smith and Wesson) is little used though it should be far more common.
5. TARGET MARKET
It is made for…
…inventors. It will provide greatly increased chances of success for their efforts, and being justly rewarded, to permit them to go on and address society’s problems.
Society will see better quality of life, better health, work, life and leisure and more problems solved, possibly even today’s greatest: terminal global warming.
It is available for sale through…
Social media will be used to demand that ‘the powers that be’ implement the One Dollar Patent Act 2015, (or substantially similar legislation), following discussion between the two parties to the patent system; society and inventors.
Our marketing strategy is to…
…use campaigns on YouTube and Facebook, petitions on Avvaaz, CommunityRun (Getup) and other social media. Traditional groups such as Inventor Associations will be addressed and encouraged to support the One Dollar Patent, considering their own histories under the current system. Society will be addressed to educate costs of current system and the benefits of one dollar patents.
FINE PRINT: This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
