Inventive measures State patent program assists local innovators

While most inventions are born of necessity, inconvenience and frustration often play a part in their conception.

Such was the case for Bernard “Bunny” Doak, a 67-year-old Orrington resident who needed to find a way to move the bulky snowplow attachment he used to plow his 400-foot driveway in the winter. In order to move the 775-pound, 8-foot plow, Doak had to attach it to the front of his truck and drive it to another spot. It took up too much space in his garage, but leaving it outside was an insurance liability and an invitation for theft.

About six years ago, Doak arranged a few long pieces of steel to form a triangle, added a few wheels and asked his friend Joel Pelletier, a shop teacher in Bucksport, to weld them together for him.

“Friends came over and saw it and said, ‘Golly, Bunny, you gotta do something with this,'” he said.

Thus Doak’s Snowplow Dolly was born.

Doak, a retired sales representative for Hilti, an Oklahoma-based construction tool manufacturer, turned to the Maine Patent Program in Portland.

Doak and his wife, Betty, had taken business courses through University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Bangor and learned about the Maine Patent Program, which is administered by the Center for Law and Innovation at the University of Maine School of Law in Portland. The program also has a satellite office at the University of Maine’s Target Technology Center in Orono.

The Maine Patent Program provides free evaluations to Maine residents who think they have invented something marketable. Law students team with the program’s two patent advisers to evaluate inventions and make strategic suggestions. Funded by the state Legislature, the Maine Patent Program was initiated in 1999 to support economic development by helping Maine inventors and small businesses understand how to identify and protect their intellectual property. The program also helps individuals and businesses obtain copyright and trademark protection.

“When a client is referred to us, we ask, ‘Is there a market? Has there been public disclosure of the invention?’ We want to act as a bit of a screen for clients,” said Leonard Agneta, Maine Patent Program director.

Agneta said the program does not attempt to compete with the state’s patent attorneys. If the program deems an invention patentable, clients are referred to a patent attorney. However, by going to the program for an initial evaluation, inventors avoid some hefty legal fees.

“As a minimum, we probably save every client $2,000 on the search and evaluation and patent opinion,” said Woody Higgins, senior patent counsel at the program. Higgins is a retired patent attorney from Cooley Godward, a law firm in Silicon Valley in California.

Thomas Maas, another program adviser who evaluated Doak’s Snowplow Dolly, said for an invention to merit a patent, it must differ from existing patented products.

“Our criteria for a patent is that it [the invention] doesn’t necessarily have to be better, but it has to be different. One would hope it would be better,” Maas said. “Differences might be so slim that it’s not worth the person pursuing a patent.”

Particularly competitive and innovative inventions are referred to the Maine Technology Institute, a state funded, private nonprofit organization that offers financial assistance for the research and development of technology-based projects.

Rita Heimes, director of the Center for Law and Innovation at the University of Maine School of Law, said she believes the Maine Patent Program is the only one of its kind in the country.

“There are states beginning to develop programs, usually through law schools, that offer services to start up companies. Some of them will offer patent-related advice,” Heimes said.

The Maine Patent Program sees more than 150 inventions a year, Maas said. He said it is difficult to say how many receive patents, because inventors decide on their own whether to apply, and it can take years to receive a patent.

“We not only give them our opinion, we try to educate them on the patent system and tell them who else is selling or importing a similar object in the U.S.,” Maas said.

But the Maine Patent Program is aware of more than a few success stories.

Among the Maine inventors who have gone on to apply for patents are Glenn and Tamra Philbrook of Old Town, who invented colorful flatware handles filled with ground seashells; Chris Frank of Orono, whose wireless iPointer uses GPS tracking and a company database to identify buildings and landmarks; and Dan Kidd of Limington whose Pex Pocket Crimper, which secures plumbing fittings, is racking up sales on eBay.Doak has selected Guilford-based Pride Manufacturing, LLC to produce his dollies and with his patent pending number, Doak is traveling around the state pitching his product to retail stores, car dealerships, public works departments and utility companies. Doak works part time for Home Depot and hopes to convince the store to stock his product nationwide. He already has sold two dollies to the city of Bangor and more to car dealerships in Bangor and Ellsworth.

Doak won’t say how much he earns total from the sale of each $395 dolly, but hopes to earn between $1 million and $2 million in sales or by selling the business. There may even be another invention in the future.

“Once I get this idea off the ground, I’ve got another one that I think could make me even more money,” Doak said.

For more information on the Maine Patent Program, visit: www.mainepatent.org. For more information on the businesses mentioned in this article, visit: www.doaksnowplowdolly.com (up in the next month), www.artfulwares.com, www.i-spatialtech.com, www.pexcrimper.com