Steps 6 and 7:
Industry Research Commercialization / Marketing

Industry Marketing Research:  This research provides detailed information on the industry and targeted market the invention will be entering.  Business and government organizations have literally spent hundreds of millions of dollars to obtain statistical data industry studies, business directories, industry experts and authorities, trade journals, and trade associations are analyzed in this secondary market research effort.  Market intelligence is a vital ingredient for planning and decision-making in commercialization of a new invention.

Licensing to Industry:  Licensing is the conveyance of patent rights to a third party who in turn manufactures and/or distributes the patented product and pays the patent owner a royalty for those rights granted.  Licensing patent rights allows entrepreneurs the freedom to continue doing what they are doing without the hassle of forming, funding, staffing and launching a new business.  Normally the licensee is already a business that is already manufacturing and/or distributing into the industry and target markets the entrepreneur wants to reach.  A license can be exclusive, non-exclusive or have limited exclusive aspects such as geographical or limited to specific industries etc.

Business Plan:  A professionally written business plan is absolutely essential for the inventor that desires to acquire funding to commercialize an invention, on his own.  The business plan must accurately define the corporation’s mission, short and long term objectives and provide detailed strategies on how said objectives will be met.  The financing requirements and human resources (management) necessary to meet the corporate goals must be clearly detailed and the plan must include three to five year financial projections and documentation to validate then assumptions made in said projections.

Source Venture Capital:  Financing the launch of a new invention or technology requires an alliance between the entrepreneur (who is often an inventor) and a funding source.  To ensure their innovative efforts have the best chance of success, entrepreneurs should team up with someone who understands venture capitalists’ perspectives regarding new products, markets and management and have a well articulated business plan before seeking financing.  The venture capitalist objectives are to acquire extraordinary returns on investments through the appreciation of the business they finance.  Funding can also be provided by wealthy individuals (sometimes referred to as angels) or large financial institutions with sophisticated investing operations, or organizations that fall somewhere in between. Many venture capitalists will work with an entrepreneur during the very early stages of the development process to assure their success. They tend to view themselves as experts in maximizing the application side of product development, manufacturing and marketing through sophisticated management.