At our September meeting, SDIF board member, Michele Nash-Hoff, gave her presentation on “How to Select the Right Processes and Sources for Your New Products.” She shared that there is often more than one way to make a particular mechanical part depending on the environment in which the product will be used, the annual production volume projected, and what certifications may be required such as U/L, FDA approval, or ISO. She showed pictures of the different fabrication services that may be chosen. She discussed the importance of doing a Total Cost Analysis when selecting the right vendor to make parts. This includes the hidden costs, such as Intellectual Property theft, quality problems, higher inventory costs, and transportation costs. She discussed the pro and cons of outsourcing overseas vs. making in the USA.
The October meeting will feature a presentation by Robert Green of PowerPak Industries LLC on the subject of packaging. Bob is the son of Peter Green who created the first-ever blister pack for retail packaging. Bob took over the company from his father in 1984 so has many years of experience in working with inventors and entrepreneurs to design the right packaging for their new products.
Again, we had several new attendees in addition to those who are becoming regular attendees at our meeting location at the law offices of Knobbe Martens, 3579 Valley Centre Drive, Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92130.
The San Diego Inventors Forum supports the work of the national organization, US Inventors, to restore patent rights since the organization was founded in 2014 after the passage of the America Invents Act of 2011. US Inventor is the only organization representing small inventors, businesses, and startups to enact change that supports these groups, and it has grown to about 87,000 members over the past couple of years. If you haven’t already signed the Inventor’s Rights Resolution, you can sign here.
In the past month, US Inventors has been active in opposing two Senate bills that would not help inventors and undo the damage caused by the American Invents Act of 2011. These bills were supposed to be “Marked up” and approved by the Judiciary Committee in September. The two bills are:
S. 2140: Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2023 (PERA)
S.2220 - PREVAIL Act
Thousands of USI members have called and wrote their Senator expressing their opposition to both bills. PREVAIL could be saved if it had an amendment that “offers inventors the “choice” of not being forced into the unjust PTAB administrative court, but rather being able to choose to face your infringer in a real court with a jury and Due Process.”
Michele participated with other constituents of the two California Senators, Butler and Padilla in Zoom meetings with the staff of the Senators that was arranged by US Inventors.
Many attendees to the US Inventor annual conference on September 25th-26th came a day early to visit the offices of their Senators.
As a result of these efforts, the bills were not considered by the Judiciary committee. Congress is now in recess until after the election. The danger is that there will still be five weeks of Congress being in session before this session of Congress is concluded.
We urge you to contact the offices of Senator Butler and Padilla and express your opposition to PERA and PREVAIL unless PREVAIL is amended as suggested above. You can call the U.S. House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to get connected to the office of your Senator.
SDIF President's Message
There are many areas of the product development process where individual inventors are way better off seeking involvement of a true professional. Whether it is just a little dose of advice, some guidance you need, or fully hands on help and continuous assistance - it all depends on the type of your project and your skill set/experience. One of those areas is PACKAGING.
When developing a consumer product to be sold in retail, it is essential to consider proper packaging very, very early on. This can prevent major headaches with redesigning and stressing out with delays that could have been easily avoided.
So do yourself a favor and join us for a very informative and partially hands on session on PACKAGING presented by our local and nationwide packaging expert Robert Green from PowerPak. You will learn a lot and start seeing things differently."
Greg Wawrzyniak
Check out this Made in USA video if you have a product ready for marketing at this link: Revitalizing the American economy!
https://youtu.be/Q1-aUxRRhdU