It’s an unfortunate fact that many inventors labor under the idea that great inventions sell themselves. That essentially, a useful invention will sell itself, and thus, invention = $$$.
Based on years of working with inventors, I can say that this isn’t the case. The reality is more like… well, I describe it as “The Middle.”
The majority of potentially profitable inventions, those that fall into “The Middle,” still require a lot of work.
Let’s say that there are 10,000 ideas out there in the world that are patented on a given day. Of these, about 9,000 don’t go anywhere. They’re simply unworkable, because there isn’t any demand for them, and there won’t be anytime soon. A solid 90% of patents are money pits that will never give back what you put into them, let alone turn a profit.
That leaves the other 1,000 ideas, the remaining 10%. There might be 1 idea in there that is so mind-blowingly amazing that investors will start throwing money at it prior to any implementation or patenting, simply because the idea is just that good. That 1 idea—which just about every inventor believes is their idea—constitutes about 0.1% of the potentially profitable ideas, and 0.01% of all ideas.
This leaves us with the other 999 ideas, the bulk of the 10% that might be in the money. These are the ideas that I refer to as The Middle. Here’s what The Middle is:
Back in 1999, Capitol Records dropped a semi-promising rock band called Jimmy Eat World from their label due to substandard sales. Obviously, the members of Jimmy Eat World felt pretty bummed by this development, but rather than giving up, they put in a few years of hard work, pooled their money, and recorded a new album.
They shopped the album around, found a record company that was interested, and proceeding to sell several million records. One of their new hit songs on the album was “The Middle,” a reflection on that middle period between when they were cut by Capitol Records, and when they finally managed to sell their new album—the lull in between those two events, which the song describes as “the middle of the ride.”
The Middle is not quite here, not quite there, a space in which you really have to work at your idea and “try everything you can” in order to get out of that twilight zone and propel yourself—and your idea—to profitability.
If you’re in The Middle, investing money into patenting your idea is a waste, unless you’re willing to invest effort as well.
Ideas comprising The Middle of the pool of patentable ideas out there aren’t bad ideas, or unprofitable ones. They are ideas that require drive and effort to cultivate into something sellable, much as Jimmy Eat World spent two years and the bulk of their funds to create a product that was ultimately extremely profitable.
The issue with ideas in this middle group is that most inventors are extremely reluctant to put in the work necessary to make them succeed. Realistically, pulling this off is like having a(nother) full-time job. It’s extremely challenging.
Of my thousands of clients, about 20% bail after the first consultation. Another 50% go to the bother of filing a provisional patent application, but give up during the implementation. The remaining 30% implement the idea and file a non-provisional patent application.
Those that continue to push usually find success in one form or another.
That final 30% are really impressive, diverse crowd of people coming from a variety of backgrounds. Some of their inventions end up profitable, and some do not. But most of them end up successful in some endeavor, even if not the one they saw me for.
I have a story about this. One of my friends, another patent attorney, started a company. He did a good job securing patents for the company, but then it failed. He was upset, but he understood The Middle and tried again. And a third time. It was this third company that really took off and proved to be a success for him, in part because he had some amazing partners on his management team.
If you keep pushing, you’ll likely make it.
The issue is that most patent attorneys don’t advertise the existence of The Middle and all it entails (namely, a lot of hard work). They’re happy to take their clients’ money and file applications, without pushing their clients and seeing if they actually have the tenacity to make something of their idea.
I’m not a fan of this approach. It’s a waste of money. I want my clients to understand what they’re getting themselves into, and to understand that there’s no point to spending money on a patent unless they’re willing to put in the effort necessary to generate a return on their investment.
My recommendation is to wait until you have a working prototype before you reach out to a patent attorney. At this point, a patent attorney can help you determine whether filing a non-provisional patent application is advisable.
Whether you have one of those rare ideas that will sell itself, or you find yourself in The Middle, we can help. To learn more, give us a call 916-760-8265, or send us a message using our convenient contact form. We can help you find a path out of The Middle, and into profitability.