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Learn the
details of T2 Design's "American Inventor" experience, |
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T2 Design Featured on 2 Episodes of "American Inventor" Friday,
May 12, 2006 |
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T2 Design, an invention prototype building company, successfully created the electronics, and composed the voice, music, and lyrics for the Niya Doll. Darla Davenport-Powell's invention, the Niya Doll, speaks and sings several languages, and is the first African American doll that speaks an African language, as well as English and Spanish.
T2 Design's Linda Shayne and Stacey Matthew wrote and recorded Niya's song, performed by Hailey Beaman and the T2 Design World Choir. "Eight countries from around the world, including Kenya, Japan, Mexico and the Philippines were represented in our choir, creating a vibrant, rhythmic sound," said Linda Shayne, film maker and songwriter.
T2 Design developed and constructed the prototypes for semi-finalist Jodi Pliszka's invention "Headline It". "Headline It" is a disposable absorbent liner for hats, helmets and wigs. T2 Design created the packaging and brand identity for Jodi's product as well." American Inventor" judge Ed Evangelista remarked, "I think people will buy it." "American Inventor" judge Peter Jones stated, "You have utilized the 50,000 dollars exceptionally well and I don't believe you could have done it better." T2 Design's "American Inventor" creative teams are featured on T2 Design's website at www.t2design.com.
T2 Design helps inventors create products from their invention ideas. Based in Santa Monica, California, T2 Design has successfully worked with inventors designing products, building prototypes, patent searching and facilitating manufacturing for more than 15 years. |
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| The following article is reprinted with permission from Entrepreneur Magazine |
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You've got this great idea, but you don't know how to take it forward. You haven't the foggiest notion how to evaluate your idea, research the market or build a prototype. Well, an industry has cropped up to help you with this dilemma: product development companies.
Although the two are sometimes confused, product development companies and invention development companies are not the same. When you thumb through the backs of many magazines, you'll see advertisements for invention development companies or invention marketing companies. The ads offer a quick and easy way to get your idea to market for an upfront fee. These companies offer such services as a patent search, marketing reports, development and distribution contacts, and more. The services are all done for a variety of fees and for a percentage of profits from your idea. The companies' sales approach is usually high-pressure. They will flatter you by telling you how great your idea is and appeal to your sense of guilt for not having what it takes to develop it. More than a year ago, I had one of my employees contact five of these companies that we randomly chose from the backs of magazines. She submitted a product idea I had already received a patent on and had even advertised on television. All five companies responded. Each gushed over the idea, saying it was fantastic, and each claimed to have done a preliminary investigation that showed the idea was patentable. All the companies offered to do a patent search and an initial patent filing for fees ranging from $500 to $5,000 upfront. One company gave her a quote of $10,000 and 20 percent of future profits to "develop" the idea. The companies could not tell us what type of patent would be filed (design or utility), and all five were vague about what she would receive. My employee was aggressively and frequently called in the evenings by all the companies. When she finally asked for details in writing, her request was denied, and the phone solicitation stopped. Both CNN and "48 Hours" have done reports on invention development companies. Both advised their viewers to steer clear of these companies, and so do I. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT) has introduced legislation that would conceivably wipe out these types of companies. The act is titled The 1995 Inventors Protection Act. His office estimates that about 25,000 inventors are conned by these companies each year to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. By stark
contrast, a product development company is a full-service solution to your
prototype needs. These companies provide assistance in areas such as
prototyping, marketing, finance, legal protection, manufacturing and
packaging. The level of service may differ from one firm to another, but
most offer some combination of the above. Product development firms take
more of a whole-product view than do typical prototype makers. Their goal
is to give your idea the best chance for success in the market. Without an
aggressive sales force, they develop a proposal tailored to you and your
idea and clearly state their fees upfront. These companies are end-result
driven and give a lot of thought to the needs of the consumer who will buy
your product. The financial advice they provide may include tips on financing your idea and help with finding a business partner or licensee. Legal assistance may include patent searches and patent filings, gaining necessary government or industry approvals (Food and Drug Administration, Underwriters Laboratories, Federal Communication Commission and so on) to ensure your product meets safety requirements. Manufacturing assistance provided by these companies can include designing your product to manufacturing specifications, preparing your product for manufacturing, and referring you to manufacturing firms. This assistance works hand in hand with the prototype development process. The product development firm will work toward building a prototype that can be affordably manufactured. To do this, it might want to know how many units you plan to make in your initial manufacturing run and what you want the retail price to be. Using this information, it will have a prototype built out of a material that simulates as closely as possible the eventual materials used for manufacturing. For example, a final product made out of polyethylene or polypropylene will have a prototype made of urethane. One product development company is T-2 Design Corp. in Santa Monica, California. President Paul Berman, whose company has specialized in industrial design and prototyping for the past 13 years, explains how they work: "We evaluate and research the idea, including patent searching, before we move on to the essential stage of designing a prototype," Berman says. "The raw idea is styled and designed into a functioning prototype, including any new mechanisms or electronics to make it viable." Now for the bad news: Hiring a product development company can be expensive. Berman charges $125* for an initial consultation, during which the product is discussed and future actions are identified. Reputable product development companies will give you an honest evaluation in a consultation and tell you if they think your idea has any merit. Generally, the next step is a patent search. T-2 charges $450* for a manual patent search which includes a patentability opinion from a patent attorney. This means an individual actually goes to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, DC, and hand-searches through the patent repository library. When the search results are in, T-2 contacts a patent attorney who will review the search results and provide a written opinion on the patentability of the idea. If you decide to have a product development company design and build your prototype, be aware that the cost will vary depending on your idea. T-2 charges $125* per hour. Berman estimates the cost of designing and building a prototype to be anywhere from $1,000 to $14,000*, depending on the complexity of the product. For prototypes with simple electronics, the starting point is approximately $3,500*. Sophisticated electronic prototypes usually start at around $7,000*. After you choke on their quote for performing all the services you require, sit down and think about how much it would cost you in time and money to do it yourself, and consider the expertise they have that you don't. You may find the company is worth its fee when you consider it will reduce potentially costly mistakes, get your idea to market more quickly and provide expertise you could not find elsewhere Starting
Your Search Don't be afraid to call a small company with a product similar to your own idea and ask to speak to the inventor. Many times, he or she will be more than happy to assist you. If the inventor didn't use a product development company, there is a good chance he or she knows of someone who has. Product
development companies are very helpful when your idea is complex. One of
the primary functions of a product development company is to help you
figure out how to get your product made out of suitable materials within a
profitable cost structure. Also, if you are faced with many manufacturing
alternatives, these companies can help you narrow the list. Of course,
when deciding whether to use a product development company, you must weigh
the benefits against the cost. Tomima
Edmark is the inventor of the TopsyTail and several other products and is
author of The American Dream Fact Pack ($49.95). For more
information on Tomima Edmark's current story, please visit www.HerRoom.com
or www.HisRoom.com
for more information. |
Know-It-Alls
| The following article is reprinted with permission from Entrepreneur Magazine |
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What does a product development company look for in an invention? Paul Berman of T2 Design Corp. cites eight key elements of a successful product:
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As the saying goes, seeing is believing. That's why its so important to build a working model of your invention-in industryspeak, a prototype. Potential investors will want to see a prototype before any money changes hands. But there is another, equally significant, reason for developing a prototype: You have to make sure your product not only looks the way you envisioned, but works the way you want it to. Many inventors are shocked to discover that what works on paper doesn't always work in practice.
If your invention isn't too technical, you may opt to build your own prototype. Rest assured, you wouldn't be the first inventor (or the last, for that matter) to do this. Otherwise, you can take your idea to a product development company such as Santa Monica, California-based T2 Design Corp. What's the benefit of going to a product development company? "There are all kinds of traps to avoid in the inventing process," says T2 Design's president, Paul Berman. "We basically try to look out for inventors' interests."
T2 Design charges development fees ranging from $1,000 to more than $14,000*, depending on the project and whether the company receives royalties. Berman says it usually takes less than three months to produce a prototype; eight weeks is a "reasonable" average.
Inventors who approach T2 Design first go through a one-hour consultation. "We can shed a little light on what we think the odds of success for the product are," says Berman, who estimates at least half the ideas brought to T2 Design are rejected at this stage.
Following the consultation, a patent search is conducted for clients with marketable ideas. Market research and the building of an engineering model typically precede the prototype as well.
T2 Design can assist inventors after the prototype stage, too. "Conceivably," says Berman, "we can take [a product] all the way through a license deal." How do you find a product development company? Ask for recommendations from friends, family members and personal contacts. ask local inventors' organizations for guidance. If all else fails, you can always look in the Yellow Pages.
To prototype or not to prototype...that is not the question. The question is whether to do it yourself or hire a product development company. Success by either route will smell as sweet. |
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* price as of July, 2006
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