CONTEST RULES
I. OBJECTIVE: The SEARCH FOR INVENTION® contest was created to select, from patents submitted by inventors in an open competition, products that uniquely solve an existing problem of the general household consumer and have not yet reached the marketplace. The winning products must be tangible, consumer oriented, beneficial, unique and original. All entries must meet the following criteria requirements and belong to one of the consumer product categories listed below.
II. ELIGIBILITY: The following criteria will be used to determine eligibility:
- Patent MUST already be issued. Please remember to include a copy of your patent.
- A working or non-working prototype must be available at the time of judging.
- Patent should be original. It should not be a modification of an existing product. ie: It cannot be a patent that merely cosmetically changes a product already available.
- Product should be designed for use by the general consumer market and not for industrial or trade use.
- Product has not yet been sold through normal retail channels, i.e. stores, catalogs, infomercials, home shopping, etc.
- Patents/Inventions submitted to previous SEARCH FOR INVENTION® competitions are not eligible.
III. CATEGORIES: To be considered for the competition and to be eligible for final awards, an inventor's patent must fall into one of the following consumer product categories:
- Recreation: Products designed for sports or physical fitness, outdoor use, travel, games, pets or other related activities.
- Personal Care: Products designed to help an individual with personal grooming, health or comfort needs.
- Utilitarian Home and Garden: Products that are useful around the home, yard or garden that attempt to solve an existing problem.
- Personal Electronics: Products that are battery or electrically powered and are designed for the consumer at home, work, auto, etc.
IV. EXCLUSIONS: Below are examples of product categories that we will not judge:
- Design Patents
- Novelties: Barney paraphernalia, etc.
- Furniture Designs: Furniture that is only aesthetically different from other existing furniture. Furniture designed to serve a specific need around the home will be considered under the utilitarian home or personal care categories above.
- Clothing: Unless it falls into one of the 4 accepted categories and is unlike anything else currently on the market.
- Cosmetic Changes to an existing product: i.e. bigger, smaller, different color, different material, etc.
- Chemicals
- Methods or Processes: improvements to an existing method of manufacture or process.
- Arts and Crafts
- Industrial Products
- Business to Business Products
- Computer Software
V. CRITERIA FOR JUDGING: Entries will be evaluated based on the following criteria. Please note that entries are evaluated for the sole purpose of the contest and not for inclusion in the catalog.
- Originality of concept
- Ingenuity of bringing the concept to design
- Benefit to the user
- Safety
- Production feasibility
|
|
|
