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GOING IT ALONE |
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To be successful as a lone inventor requires you to have an idea with commercial potential, determination, nerves of steel and a lot of luck. However, being an inventor/entrepreneur is, in my opinion, one of the most exciting and rewarding careers there is. Nothing compares to the buzz of achievement you feel when you find a unique and elegant solution to a problem, or to the satisfaction of seeing your product displayed in shops. For creative, lateral thinkers the process of invention is relatively easy. The hard part is bringing the resulting product to market.
With my invention, the Anywayup* cup (a trainer cup that automatically seals between sips) I approached 18 companies in the nursery industry. Despite their apparent keen interest, none were prepared to pay for a licence. This typifies the response that many inventors receive, regardless of the commercial viability of their technologies. I found this dichotomy puzzling but, over time, I have come to understand it. Rather than risking the cost involved in being first to market with a new invention, many companies prefer the relative safety, of ‘me too’ products.
Without a licensee I faced a stark choice: Either give up, or do it myself. I was certain that the Anywayup cup was destined to be a success. A cup that did not drip all over the carpet was the answer to every mother’s prayer! So I assembled my team and set up the Haberman Company Ltd. We began production in 1996.
To achieve volume sales, we needed supermarkets to take the cup. However, on principle, they would not do business with a ‘one-product company’. We overcame this by sending one of the chief buyers an Anywayup cup, filled with concentrated blackcurrant juice, through the post! Fortunately, it arrived without spilling and she was so impressed, that she decided to take it. The other supermarkets soon followed suit.
Rapidly, we achieved over 40% market share in the UK and 75% in Germany. This hit our competitors hard and, in August 1998, Jackel International Plc (to whom I had offered a licence in 1992) launched an infringing ‘Tommee Tippee’ product. Jackel had signed my confidentiality agreement and they knew that I had patents but they assumed that I, like most inventors, could not afford the prohibitive cost of UK litigation to enforce my rights.
Sadly, our fledgling brand could not remain viable in the market along side such a well established name, and so granting Jackel a license to sell their product was out of the question. If we did not take action and set a precedent, all our other competitors would infringe. We needed an injunction to stop them. So, with the aid of a little bit of insurance and at huge personal financial risk we litigated and, to my great relief, we won. Jackel eventually settled out of court, a few days before their appeal. Anywayup went on to become a household name and my David and Goliath story has become famous.
Achieving success with an invention goes against all the odds but you can improve your chances by, for example:
- Comprehensively researching to check your idea is new
- Taking a realistic view regarding its commercial potential.
- Assuming that everyone is going to copy you and therefore taking
precautionary action.
- Building a strong team of experts around you.
- Utilizing all aspects of IPR to strengthen your position (do not rely solely on patent rights, which can be volatile)
- Buying IPR legal costs insurance
In short, be perceived as a force to be reckoned with, in the eyes of your competitors.
My case proves that it is possible for a lone inventor to survive and triumph, even through the patent litigation system. Fortunately, much is now being done in the UK to help level the playing field and to make patent enforcement more accessible. So ‘Going it alone’ should become a little easier.
* Anywayup is a registered trade mark.
This article was written by Mandy Haberman for publication by IP Review |
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| Date released: |
Saturday 01 January 2005 |
| Contact Person: |
Mandy Haberman |
| E-mail: |
info@mandyhaberman.com |
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