Patent No. 5,524,641: An Inventor's Story

Tweet

Why has Battaglia struggled so? Among the obvious reasons is money. His Thrifty salary is $32,000 a year, plus a couple thousand in bonuses. That wouldn't prevent many entrepreneurs from getting a business off the ground. But the product Battaglia proposes to make will require a pretty hefty investment on the front end. In 1998 a proposal from a product-design firm pegged the cost of creating a proper prototype between $10,350 and $16,970, depending on whether Battaglia wanted to share royalties. More than a year later, when he complained about the cost, he received a curt E-mail message from another potential backer. "What they wanted to charge you was reasonable," the would-be investor wrote. "If you believe in your product, that's what it takes -- cash."

And there are other red flags. A product-design engineer reviewed Battaglia's proposal and told the inventor that the cost of manufacturing products based on his design would probably drive the price of the product beyond what consumers would be willing to spend. The engineer also pointed out that the strength of the geodesic shape, which Battaglia sees as an attribute, might ironically be a problem. He explained in an E-mail message to Battaglia, "It seems to me that there is an inherent conflict between the structural stiffness and strength offered by the geodesic-dome principle and the compliance and deformation required of energy-management materials." In other words, if geodesics are so stiff, perhaps they won't "give" enough, and the wearer will suffer injury. Additionally, athletic equipment must have a smooth surface so that it doesn't catch on pavement, for instance, and cause harm to the wearer. Battaglia's design, with the triangles of a geodesic dome cut into it, would have to be carefully produced to achieve such smoothness.

Ultimately, the staff of some laboratory will have to test Battaglia's equipment in prototype form to see if it will work. But arranging a lab test is not easy for a nonengineer with no affiliation with the sporting-goods industry. Battaglia may be able to commission a few more prototypes over the years, but without validation he'll have a hard time selling a license to a large company. Alternatively, he could launch his own company to sell his products. His ITM peers have encouraged him to try to entice skater punks to embrace the aesthetic of the geodesic design -- essentially a strategy that says, Screw the benefits of the design and buy it because it looks cool. Battaglia is willing to consider tailoring his pitch. But even if a maverick grassroots interest in Battaglia's products were to arise, he would still want to do lab testing before selling them on the open market. It's a question of minimizing risk. As Battaglia noted in the "con" column in a 1993 list of pros and cons of geodesic equipment: "Possible paralysis lawsuits."

Battaglia has spent one-fifth of his life pursuing his patent -- an idea that was supposed to liberate him from the tedium of working for others but so far hasn't.

Youthful ambition, geography, and politics conspired to draw Battaglia to the exhilarating yet frustrating world of invention. He came to San Francisco in 1991 and took a job at a company that provided valet parking at many of San Francisco's downtown hotels. Like all thirtysomething transplants, Battaglia spent his first few months getting to know the city. He joined a soccer league. Then, as the 1992 presidential election drew closer, Battaglia fell for H. Ross Perot, the plain-talking entrepreneur from Texas who challenged the staid two-party system. He volunteered in Perot's local field office. "I looked up to him," Battaglia recalls. "The maverick, the innovator who was well rewarded."

The combination of his hero's can-do charisma and the city's electric entrepreneurial vibe proved intoxicating. In between depositing and retrieving cars in the Hyatt hotel's garage, Battaglia began scribbling the notes that would one day fill his files. A "statement of company purpose" (circa late 1992) mentions no product but reveals Battaglia's desire "to consciously consider all current and future effects that my business decisions will have on the U.S. and world natural environment." Later he outlined his plans to "have a computer and patent-pending status in two months."

Battaglia has spent one-fifth of his life pursuing his sports-gear patent -- an idea that was supposed to liberate him from the tedium of working for others but so far hasn't. His disappointment might have been predicted. The vast majority of patents do not result in a marketable product, and patents filed by first-time inventors are particularly likely to remain dormant. "Most inventors do better on their second or third or fourth patent," explains Apley, the former patent official who is teaching a class for new patent examiners. "The rate of success is low on their first try, because they don't usually understand the need for market research. What sells is as important as what's invented. Some inventions aren't the better mousetrap. The thing to do is to know your market and know when your idea is a loser."

Oddly enough, Apley blames inventors groups in part for the phenomenon of inventors' tending to get stuck on a lousy patent -- even though he thinks the groups constitute a positive force in the invention world. The problem is, he says, that "the presentations that inventors see at these groups can sometimes give the impression that an inventor can think, 'I have a patent. Now I can make a million dollars.' " He adds: "I'm sorry to say that's not the answer. Getting a patent is probably the easiest part of the whole equation."

 PREV  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5  NEXT 

Read more:

Mike Hofman

Mike Hofman was previously editor of Inc.com and a deputy editor at Inc. magazine, which he joined in 1996. The site was nominated for a National Magazine Award for Digital Media in 2010, and was named the best business website by Folio Magazine. In 2006, Hofman was part of a team of writers nominated for a Webby Award for best business blog. He lives in New York City.

Sign-up for our Finance Newsletter

Email Address: