Inventing for Boys

by A. Frederick Collins

Many an inventor assigns an interest in his patent either before or after it is granted to some one who will advance the needed money. But this is a thing you should never do for after having made such an assignment, however small the part, the person who owns it can make, use or sell the invention which the patent covers, as he chooses, just as though he owned the whole patent and you can neither stop him nor even sue him for damages.

You can, of course, make, use and sell the invention covered by the patent too but usually it is the other fellow who gets the best of the bargain.

Royalties, Shop Rights, etc.—After you have built a working model and obtained a patent on it there are many ways of making money out of your invention.

One is to sell your invention and patent outright; another is to sell shop-right licenses; another is to have some manufacturer give you a royalty on each machine or device he makes and sells, and yet another way is to sell territorial rights, that is the town, county and state rights to manufacture your invention. Forms of agreements for all of these deals will be found in the Rules of Practice of the United States Patent Office.

Besides the above arrangements you can go into partnership with some moneyed man, or interest, and finally a good plan, where a large amount of capital is required to build a plant and start a business, is to form a company, or corporation as it is called.

Forming a Partnership.—Now that you have your model completed and your patent granted you will of course want to begin commercial operations immediately, and let’s suppose you think better of forming a partnership than any of the other above named plans.

There are a hundred ways to secure a partner, or business associate as the sharer of your fortunes is called, but it is a mighty hard thing to get a satisfactory one. A favorite way to enlist capital and one that is often resorted to by inventors in large cities is to advertise in the newspapers under the head of business opportunities.

An advertisement of this kind may put you in touch with the man you are looking for but it will also bring you a lot of curiosity seekers, riff raff and other undesirables who come generally with a view of inducing you to part with your money rather than to invest any of their own. This is also true of the so-called brokers who advertise to procure working capital for meritorious inventions.

One of the best ways to secure a partner who has the necessary capital and requisite business ability is to arrange to show your invention in operation and then invite your moneyed neighbors and the business men of your town, though you may not know the latter personally, to call and see it; and they will call and get interested if they believe in its possibilities for they are as anxious to make more money as you are to make a little of it, and they are keen to the fact that great fortunes have been built up out of simple as well as complex inventions.

This method of showing your invention to your towns-folk, either individually or collectively, is the safe way to get one or more good, substantial men interested in your proposition and to lay the foundation of a paying business.