Page 162 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

claims, may increase the total cost of securing such a patent to $300 or even
more. Because your income from the invention will probably be due almost
entirely to the patent protection you get, it is well to have the services of a
competent patent attorney in procuring your patent, as often the value of the
patent depends largely upon the skill of the attorney. It is wise to have your
patent procured by an attorney of recognized ability, although some other
attorney might prepare your application for a lower fee. Incidentally, you will
find that being able to confer directly with your patent attorney is going to be
of considerable value to you.

Improvements Are the Most SalablePatents

T

HE best way to make money on inventions is to devise improvements for
things which you use every day. As a rule manufacturers are anxious to
improve their products and will pay substantial sums for ideas along those
lines.

Take the ordinary kitchen mixer, for example. It does many things, but it is
safe to say that there are a hundred and one undiscovered uses for this
common home appliance. There are several manufacturers of such appliances
and competition between them is keen. An attachment to increase the use of
the mixer, which one of these manufacturers could feature exclusively, would
be a valuable sales point.

Similarly, it is possible to improve the most simple things. A good example is
the ordinary tube of tooth paste. The tube was an improvement over the sift-
top can, just as the sift-top can was an improvement over the can of soap
which our fathers used. Yet the tube leaves much to be desired. It is unhandy,
it is a nuisance, and it is unsanitary. What will the next improvement be? Will
it be some simple dispenser, similar to the soap dispensers on Pullman cars,
which can be built into a medicine cabinet or the washstand and always be
ready for use? Somebody thought of wall dispensers for Italian Balm, and it
became one of the most important parts of the sales plan of that company.