Stephen Key
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Kenny Durham , founder of Innovator’s Warehouse. Innovator’s Warehouse has pledged itself to equipping people with the tools they need to commercialize their intellectual property. In short, he’s helping inventors bring their products to the marketplace. Durham first developed the idea to create his company after observing the huge disconnect between the number of patents issued and amount of intellectual property that was ever commercialized.
“The success rate of patent holders is incredibly low – between 1% and 3% of patents ever make more money than it cost the inventor to file for the patent. I began digging for answers and formed the opinion that many common mistakes were being made and that the average patent holder didn’t have access to helpful resources. Many just didn’t have any idea where to turn,” explained Durham.
When he discovered that invention promotion firms have even less success than independent inventors, he knew he’d found a market.
“There’s been such a climate of distrust in the industry, for good reason. Many invention promotion firms admit their success rate is less than 1%! I understand why inventors are fearful to work with anyone.”
But Durham is confident that his company isn’t like the others. Innovator’s Warehouse proudly boasts a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If a client isn’t pleased with Innovator’s Warehouses services, they’ll receive all of their money back. I commend Durham for that pledge.
“There aren’t many guarantees you can rely on in the intellectual property industry,” he explained. “But this is one we choose to.”
I agree with Durham that the intellectual property industry is a hot one right now.
“I like to liken it to the California Gold Rush,” Durham said. “There’s a lot of money to be made, and a lot of people are eager to strike out, but so few actually succeed. I want to be the guy handing out shovels and picks at bottom of the river – or in our modern day case, crafting sales sheets and providing access to databases.”
The greatest asset the Innovator’s Warehouse can offer inventors is its experience, Durham admitted.
“Our intention is not to evaluate ideas. I may give my opinion and advise a client to seek counsel from other people, but I’ve tried to separate my business from objective criticism. To be honest, I’ve reviewed intellectual property I thought was totally ridiculous, only to discover that Proctor and Gamble was hotly pursuing the idea. And other ideas I’ve judged to be perfect for an industry have failed to take off. The true measure of a good or bad idea is how many products it sells at the end of the day.”
Innovator’s Warehouse offers inventors a variety of different packages at different prices. The total Warehouse package pledges to see a product through from start to finish.
“We have a game plan and we know what to expect. In my experience, companies are more welcoming to open innovation today than even four or five years ago. I recently assembled a database of potential licenses for a client; it took us less than 100 phone calls to find 60 companies willing to accept a submission of the product. Less than 5 told us “No” flat out. That’s encouraging.”
Open innovation is flourishing. Check out the Innovator’s Warehouse to see if any of their services might be right for you.
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