When developing a new product, it is wise to follow enterprise design processes. To maximize the success of your project, the following overview is derived from experience gained developing technologies for both the pharmaceutical and engineering industries.

Most designers and think tanks don’t dream of ideas on their own. It is driven by customers, society, or environmental needs to solve a problem. Perform market research to acquiring statistics of that industry, in particular, whether its expanding or contracting. Evaluate how new technologies shifts market demands, and whether your invention will be competitive. Often times, niche markets exist for a long period of time, because experts in the field have developed merely partial or expensive fixes, keeping mainstream consumers on the sidelines. If you have a better solution, you may have a market for your product. However, national or global demand doesn’t necessarily reflect local demands. A close-up look at your actual competitors and neighborhood buying habits may reveal your strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, and threats (SWOT). Your observation and personal communication skills will go a long way.

Research is never complete, because technology is always improving, so you need to define the parameters of your first-generation market-ready product. Perform a feasibility study assessing 3 key barometers of your company: business portfolio, technical skills, and resources. Thereafter, identify key project risks and rank order project goals as an order list of importance. You may have trade-off, such as resources for time, but never compromise on quality. Minimize risk by comprehensive planning, such as analyzing your schedule of events to mitigate bottlenecks in your research and development cycles. Create measurable benchmarks and milestones to track your progress. Most importantly, ensure the key stakeholders and your staff are onboard, but act prudently with contingency planning for cost or time overrun.

Resist the passion to jump into a project or investment without adequate research. Keep a close eye on your 5-year or 20-year business growth, while staying accountable to current local and global market business capacity. To achieve this, create a project charter based on evaluations of the operational requirement: scalability of product, reliability of supply chain, availability of technicians, deployment and security concerns. If you need to in-license technology, perform due diligence to investigate and review all business, operational, and financial records before a buy in. Talent acquisition strategies are vital to any research based company. Determine how well the in-licensed product or joint collaborations will integrate into your core invention or business portfolio. Long-term project planning requires commitment and a steady hand from all stakeholders.

Awaken your senses to the possibilities is the most human trait of all: brainstorm ideas. Some of the craziest ideas created famous inventors such as the Wright Brothers, Edison, and Leonardo da Vinci. Transform your functional requirements into technical specifications. Stratify features into manageable portions. Perform a patent search to assess the uniqueness of your individual components and invention. This time, with your scientist and engineers, evaluate the mandatory requirements and triage your licensing or design-around options. Strive for excellence. Accumulation of small improvement to individual components may yield more than additive benefits, but rather exponential synergistic improvements. According to Vince Lombardi, the tipping point of successful is measured in inches, so fight for every inch. Your customers are judging your product based on the sum of its parts.

The ability to integrate independently improved components into a single device may require the redesign of several parts. Superior management skills to synchronize your team’s collaboration often require patience as well as ingenuity. The prototyping process consist of 5 stages: concept model, assembly/fit test, functional test, life test, and regulatory testing. At the concept stage, speed of manufacture and appearance are the primary drivers. At the assembly stage, a good fit minimized unnecessary wear and tear during a product’s life cycle. Functional testing ensures all the chemical, mechanical, and electrical components are stable under high stress conditions. Functional testing often overlaps with life cycle testing, which evaluates aging properties, including exposure to time and operating environment. Finally, at the regulatory testing stage, you are seeking to meet compliance standard with federal and local agencies. Prototyping ensures a far great chance your product will be introduced to the market on time, perform reliably and profitably.

CAD modeling and computer simulations are essential to validating your proof of concept. Often times, solutions are counter-intuitive to experts in the field, which is why the best solution has yet to be discovered. Creating a virtual model reduces overall labor and material cost as you develop your theoretical working principals. Utilizing 3D simulations also facilitate the transition from a conceptual design to logical design stage. Developing an audit system ensures key components meet acceptable tolerances for quality assurances. When designing a product, there are seemingly endless small adjustments and modifications to enhance efficacy or function, including parts alignment and stability. It’s a grueling process. Even the selection of product design and color requires numerous iterations to perfect. By leveraging virtual tooling and computer software to save cost and deliver a clear message, you’ll impress your stakeholders.

You work hard to research and develop a unique solution. Protect your intellectual property by filing for patent protection with the US Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). A patent is an official document by the federal government that gives you exclusive rights to make, use, or sell your invention for 20 years from the date of first filing. It consists of a written description, drawings, and claims to define the scope of your invention. Clearly defined borders between your invention and your competitor’s invention not only helps guide you to develop technology in white space, but also deters potential infringement by a well delineated fence. At the early stages of development, it’s advisable to file Provisional Patent Applications, which offers 1-year of protection on smaller incremental improvement. Under the United States first-to-file system, the patent owner of an invention is the one with the earliest filing date. In a densely researched field, timing is everything. If you anticipate a global market, consider filing a PCT international patent applications, which reserves an additional 18 months of protection, as you consider whether to market outside the United States. You struggled hard to succeed - protect your intellectual property rights to the full measure permitted by federal and international laws.

To maximize the success of your invention, capitalize on the people, knowledge, and tools developed from your initial research, by creating a second generation of product. Stay ahead of your competition. Develop a translational research plan, so the know-how gained from a lead project can become an enterprise solutions for the team working on the next generation of designs. Here, you will stabilize design bugs and streamline deployment, so your product is a fast follow-up of your first-generation product. Create synergy by inviting consumer feedback at every stage of development, which might become chaotic, but the extra effort to collate broad based recommendations to develop a consumer driven product yields dividends.

Build for scalability. Design with as many off-the-shelf products with reliable availability and lifespan. Avoid dependencies on rare or scares material that jeopardizes your supply capacity. Likewise, avoid hard to assemble designs which require complex robotics or labor processes, which drives up production cost. Early stage manufacturing comprises of partnerships with local shops and factories to create small to medium batches of products. Develop tradeshow marketing strategies to build your logistics framework, which facilitates supply-chain solutions such as hiring of contractors and building of manufacturer relationships. Meet trusted suppliers, engage in pilot runs, and perform factory inspections to verify quality control and operating procedures to reduce production cost overrun. Develop comprehensive legal contracts to memorialize your compensation, delivery, and quality expectations. Include methods to resolve quality-control dispute or supply chain delays to mitigates the risk of downstream order cancellations.

A trademark is a word, symbol, or design used to identify and distinguish your goods from your competitor’s goods. Strong marks (e.g., Google, Apple, and Nike) influence and facilitates consumer purchasing decisions. They convey the cost, quality, and prestige of your products. Nobody expects perfection, but everyone wants reliable and responsive customer service to make things right. Importantly, a trademark may convey shared family values, healthy lifestyle, and charitable generosity for the betterment of humanity are essential components of corporate culture. A trademark captures these values as good-will. To register your trademark, you need to file an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Searching for the right trademark, which is not already claimed, reduces the chances of rejection by a USPTO Examiner. The Law Office of Michael Huey can help you to identify a trademark, submit your trademark application, and respond to USPTO Office Actions. Furthermore, monitoring for potential infringers, sending cease-and-desist letters, and litigating against trademark infringement ensures that distributors of knock-offs are not stealing your rightful sales and damaging your reputation before you enter a new market space. Build confidence by having a strong law firm behind you.

Business formation, employment law, intellectual property, and commercial leasing are major components in starting a small business. Business Formation begin by selection of the right business entity to protect your personal assets from potential business liabilities and risks. The most common solution is the formation of a Limited Liability Company (“LLC”) for small to medium size businesses. Acquiring your Certificate of Formation, including your TIN and FEIN number, is part of your business registration process. The drafting of an Operation Agreement outlines the responsibilities of the stakeholders in your business, and more importantly, explain how to resolve conflicts. Whether you choose to hire employees or contract workers, defining clear responsibilities, conduct, and compensation terms in an Employment or Contractor Agreement ensures a productive working environment. Likewise, well drafted Confidentiality Agreements and NDA, along with a solid patent, trademark, and copyright portfolio, ensures your research and development is protected. Consider Joint Venture Agreements and Collaboration Agreement to build synergistic relationships and leverage specialized expertise. Protect your trade secrets to reducing competition.

There are many business models to sell a product, whether it is through a big box store, online ordering, or door-to-door connections, you need your customers to be satisfied with your product and service. While leadership training and marketing techniques are crucial, defining consumer expectations through a sales or service contract is important. This ensures a supply chain complication or defective batch stops as a reconcilable dispute, instead of loss sales.

As you explore your consumer base, you will discover that 96% of consumers live outside the United States, consisting of 66% of the world’s purchasing power. Companies who export have experience a 2 to 4% faster employment growth. Although foreign export seems to be a Fortune 500 company endeavor, 97% of all exporters are small businesses. The unprecedented growth of global companies is sparked by on-line commerce and fueled by global brand recognition. Your ability to identify the tipping point, when overseas manufacturing or shipping cost yields a net benefit over a local operation or sales, respectively, will be important to your shareholders. There are a multitude of opportunities to connect with your customers and identify unmet markets.

The Law Office of Michael Huey has a tradition of excellence in building technology, teaching attorneys, and finding business solutions. I practice my profession by defining a perfect balance between legal consultation and legal services. Delivering a superior client experience is at the center of my DNA. Not just legal advice, but focused training to help you make transformative decisions is personally rewarding and intellectually stimulating.

Through years of premier education and leadership positions, I am dedicated to delivering exceptional legal and creative expertise to explore and develop the finely tailored solution you need for your business. My employment experience includes Drug Discovery scientist at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Research Fellow at Rutgers Toxicology research facility. Earning 2 law degrees (JD and LLM) focused on intellectual property, and clerking for Chief Judge Covello and Chief Judge Rader, I have a solid patent, trademark, business formation, and licensing education. With numerous prize-winning projects that forms my foundation of thinking scientifically, thinking strategically, and thinking legally, I look forward to our collaborative efforts of thinking intelligently to advance your business.