INVENTOR ASSISTANCE

Contact us today to speak to a counselor about your idea.

Inventor Services

Description of our services :

• Free assistance only for Mississippi inventors!
• Mississippi patent attorney list (the most comprehensive list in the state)
• How to get started with your idea
• Steps to guide you through the inventing process
• Preliminary prior art search
• Intellectual property information (patents, trademarks, copyrights)
• Sources of specialized help (universities, engineering, attorneys, and prototyping)
• Sources of financing (extremely limited for inventors)
  

Contact James Hendrick at 1-800-725-7232 (in Mississippi) or 662-915-5001

 

MSBDC Top 10 List for Inventors

1. Watch our video for inventors. (42 minutes)
2. Invent within your area of greatest knowledge.
1. You are most likely to be creating something new if you are exploring an idea in which you are an expert.
2. Apply this example to your own situation.
3. Do not get scammed by an invention promotion company.
1. Read this great information on the InventorED website to learn more.
2. File a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center .

3. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commision
4. Can you get your money back?
4. Do everything FREE first!
1. Our services are completely free.
2. If you are not in Mississippi, go to the SBA website for help in your state.
5. Do you have the resources to successfully invent?
1. Inventing is extremely hard.  Expect to spend 300+ hours on your idea.
2. 999 out of 1,000 inventors will not make a single dollar from their idea.
3. Patents generally cost between $2,000 and $25,000 dollars.
4. Weigh these facts against spending the same time and money with your family or at work.
6. Does the evidence clearly support a market for your product?
1. Example:  If I invent a new and better 8-track player, would anyone buy it?
2. Action: research the number and type of people who want your invention.
7. Think like a business person. Imagine that you meeting with the business person who may license your invention.  Switch roles with them and become the business person for a few minutes?  Since you are a business person, what two things are you interested in?
1. Does it work?
2. Does it make me money?

8. Determine if your invention should be patented.
1. Contact us and a patent attorney to find out if your invention may be patented.
2. We have compiled a list of active patent attorney’s in Mississippi.
3. There are many reasons not to get a patent.  There are also many reasons to get a patent.
9. Keep an inventor’s notebook.
1. Contact us for help on how to keep an inventor's notebook.
10. Contact us to find out about prototyping, trade shows, financing, and marketing.  (You might also want to watch our marketing videos.)

 

Don't forget to view our video for inventors!

 

 

Other Misssissippi Resources for Inventors

1) Mississippi Patent and Trademark Library In Jackson, MS
Call 1-800-647-7542 and ask for the Patent and Trademark Department

2) Society of Mississippi Inventors
Call 1-601-497-7509 and talk to Harmon Moore

 

 

Recommended Reading for Innovators

1) Innovation: The Five Disciplines For Creating What Customer's Want

ISBN 978-0307336699

2) Payback: Reaping the Rewards of Innovation

ISBN 978-1422103135

3) Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything

ISBN 978-1591841388

 

Attention Employees of the University of Mississippi!
If you are an employee of the University of Mississippi and wish to pursue the development of an invention, it is required that you contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs on the UM campus.

The following links will also help you develop your ideas.

Inventors Digest A great web site and magazine for aspiring inventors.

InventorED A excellent site for all inventors, but especially helpful if you have been taken advantage of as part of a invention promotion scam.