Inventing For Dummies

Full coverage of the ins and outs of inventing for profit

Protect your idea, develop a product - and start your business!

Did you have a great idea? Did you do anything about it? Did someone else? Inventing For Dummies is the smart and easy way to turn your big idea into big money. This non-intimidating guide covers every aspect of the invention process - from developing your idea, to patenting it, to building a prototype, to starting your own business.

The Dummies Way
* Explanations in plain English
* "Get in, get out" information
* Icons and other navigational aids
* Tear-out cheat sheet
* Top ten lists
* A dash of humor and fun


Discover how to:
* Conduct a patent search
* Maintain your intellectual property rights
* Build a prototype product
* Determine production costs
* Develop a unique brand
* License your product to another company Foreword.

Introduction.

Part I: Making Your Idea Yours.

Chapter 1: The Innovation Process.

Chapter 2: Patent Basics.

Chapter 3: Conducting a Patent Search.

Chapter 4: Applying For and Receiving Your Patent.

Chapter 5: Maintaining and Defending Your Patent.

Part II: Securing Other Intellectual Property.

Chapter 6: Trademarks and Trade Secrets.

Chapter 7: Stopping Copycats with a Copyright.

Chapter 8: Mum’s the Word: Keeping it Confidential.

Part III: Developing Your Idea.

Chapter 9: Prototyping: Making It Work.

Chapter 10: Hiring Helpers and Working with Work-for-Hire Agreements.

Chapter 11: Evaluating Your Invention’s Potential.

Chapter 12: Looking at the Production Process.

Part IV: Commercializing Your Invention.

Chapter 13: Developing a Business Plan.

Chapter 14: Finding Funding.

Chapter 15: Keeping Control with Your Own Business.

Chapter 16: Partnering and Manufacturing Arrangements.

Chapter 17: Preparing to Take Your Invention to Market.

Chapter 18: Marketing Your Product.

Chapter 19: Advertising Your Product.

Chapter 20: Licensing Your Product.

Chapter 21: Negotiating a License.

Part V: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 22: Ten Key Contacts.

Chapter 23: Ten Inventions (and Inventors) That Changed the World.

Chapter 24: Ten Inventors to Emulate.

Part VI: Appendixes.

Appendix A: Sample Agreements.

Appendix B: Online Resources.

Index.

"The advice within its pages is easy to read, and well worth the ??15.99 cover price." (Eurekamagazine.co.uk, Tuesday 22 May 2008)

"[The book is] the only guide you need to help you make the jump from 'thinker' to 'doer.'" (UKBusinessExchange.info, Tuesday 29 April 2008)

Pamela Riddle Bird, PhD is the founder and CEO of Innovative Product Technologies, a Florida-based company that assists inventors in marketing their inventions.

Full coverage of the ins and outs of inventing for profit

Protect your idea, develop a product —and start your business!

Did you have a great idea? Did you do anything about it? Did someone else? Inventing For Dummies is the smart and easy way to turn your big idea into big money. This non-intimidating guide covers every aspect of the invention process — from developing your idea, to patenting it, to building a prototype, to starting your own business.

Discover how to:

Conduct a patent search
Maintain your intellectual property rights
Build a prototype product
Determine production costs
Develop a unique brand
License your product to another company

THE DUMMIES WAY^®

Explanations in plain English
"Get in, get out" information
Icons and other navigational aids
Online cheat sheet
Top ten lists
A dash of humor and fun

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