Business Opportunities Weblog

June 22, 2009 by Rich Whittle | 1 Comment

CNET News:

I received an e-mail asking if I had ever taken a look at sites and services for inventors. I hadn’t. And judging by the size of those sites’ communities, I’m guessing that most other folks haven’t, either. Below are some of the neatest resources designed specifically for inventors.

• Incuby is an online community designed for inventors who want to get the word out about their inventions. Once you sign up, the site asks you to input information about yourself. After that, it asks for pertinent information about your invention. You can give it a title, describe it, choose a category, and let the community know if your invention is patented yet.

• InventBay enables inventors to list their products to target investors who might want to bring those products to store shelves. InventBay itself even does some investing.

• InventNow is a really great idea. The site is an outlet for child inventors to show off their inventions. They can list their product, describe how it works, explain the problem it solves, and (hopefully) be seen by an investor.

• InvenTube is a place where inventors and investors can work together to make a product a success. After you sign up for the site, you need to input information about your product, including whether it is patented, what you plan to do with it, and more. You then describe the product you want to sell and place it on the site.

• The Patent and Trademark Office site is a handy tool for any inventor. It is filled with how-to articles on inventing a product, checking to make sure that your creation isn’t patented by someone else, and patenting your inventions. The site also has a variety of search tools and software downloads to help inventors and attorneys determine if a product or something similar has already been patented. It’s a helpful resource for any inventor.

Photo by raja4u.

In Advice, Invention, Patents | 1 Comment