I had a good friend of mine, Billy Carmen over at Product News Channel introduce me to his technique of inventing products. So here is a guy with over 60 products that he manufactures and distributes (in addition to the 1,500 he distributes through his company Wizard Distribution). And guess what, only one of his products has a patent, a high-end medical metal detector. Even his best selling item, the Lumber Wizard, a metal detector for woodworkers, doesn’t have a patent. Here is a video of his Lumber Wizard.
So how can Billy get away with selling all these products and not protecting them? Here is his philosophy…
So many inventors think they are out to make millions of dollars. However, studies have shown that only 3% of patents are commercially viable (MIT study). So the number of products that are both commercially viable and make millions of dollars, is a very, VERY small number. For most inventors, you’re lucky to make a profit, and really lucky to earn an full-time income from a product.
That’s where Billy’s philosophy really kicks in. If you assume your product will only make at most $200,000 or less in sales per year (what 99.9999% of inventions make), then why spend $20,000-$40,000 applying for, protecting, and litigating for a patent? In fact, if you are like most inventors who sell their product in small quantities to niche markets, then you don’t necessarily need a patent. Why would a Chinese company or an American company want to make your product if you’re only selling less than $200,000 of it per year? It is not worth it for them to copy it.
Copycats and big companies only want blockbuster products with potential sales in the millions. So what may be a treasure to you, making $100,000 selling your product, is peanuts to a corporation. The trick to creating a successful product that sells well enough for you to earn a living is this . . . create a product in a niche big enough for you, but too small for anyone larger. For example, Billy spun off a line of metal detectors for hunters, so they can detect bird shot in their catch of the day. That’s a niche. That’s a product that sells well, but doesn’t need a patent.
I think it’s calming to know that if you create a good, niche product, then you don’t have to worry about all the money, time, and energy you would be wasting on a patent.
Using this philosophy, Billy has created 59 products that sell well enough for him to live the good life, but not well enough for it to be worth it for companies to copy his products.
- Bryan Daigle
