Early Christmas Present

[Alan in Little Washington]

I debated whether to post this since I can't provide any details, but I got an early Christmas present last Friday.

Many of you know I licensed my box joint jig design (should be out sometime next month) and that I probably do as much or more tinkering than I do woodworking. Well I haven't spent all my time working on the box jig, I've been doing lots of stuff including working on a few other designs.

Anyway, back in mid-August, I submitted three design proposals to another known manufacturer and retailer of WW stuff. I was supposed to hear back from them in early September but by the end of the month they still hadn't had a chance to review them. In late November they told me it was unlikely they would want any of them, but the company president would make a final decision soon. I didn't hear any more until last Thursday, FOUR MONTHS after the initial submission. The guy I had been dealing with informed me he was meeting with the company president and their Director of Design the next day, after which he would let me know the outcome.

Hmmm, maybe one of my designs might still have a slim chance! Nope! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I got an email late Friday telling me they want TWO!!!! Wahoo!!!! That news was sure worth the wait!

Sometime, I suspect after the new year, they will send me licensing agreements. This time around I won't be involved in product development, but like before, they aren't gonna make me rich. But dang what a surprise and a thrill. As for the third proposal- I have already started discussions with another company and keeping my fingers crossed. Meanwhile I'm working on some other ideas.

 

[Bryan S]

Awesome Alan :eusa_clap, you continue to amaze me. :notworthy: Keep the ideas in your head and keep them coming.

 

[MarkE]

Congratulations again, Alan! :eusa_danc

Keep up the great work. As the old saying goes, "Good jigs are hard to find".

 

[Russ Denz]

Alan,
+1, erhhh, uuhhh, +2 on the congratulations, Admiral :icon_thum

Russ in Old Sparta

 

[MikeH]

That's awesome Alan. How does licensing work?

 

[bwat]

Well deserved congrats!!!:icon_thum:icon_thum:eusa_danc

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

That's awesome Alan. How does licensing work?

Most companies will not buy your design outright- might be a pig in a poke and if so means they are out the cost of the design and whatever it cost to develop it. Those that use outside designs, not all of them do, usually license them. A license means I let them use my design in exchange for a small % of the wholesale cost of each item sold. I haven't seen the new ones yet, but agreements can last forever or for a specific period of time, e.g. life of the patent, 10, 20, etc. years.

 

[Deeptree]

Alan;

Congratulations sir! That is an awesome feat! I can't wait to see it on the shelves! Are we allowed to see it, or is it still in the "top-secret" stage? I am very curious because I use my LS for all of my box joints.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Alan;

Congratulations sir! That is an awesome feat! I can't wait to see it on the shelves! Are we allowed to see it, or is it still in the "top-secret" stage? I am very curious because I use my LS for all of my box joints.

Thanks!

The I-Box isn't officially out but there are a few photos of in at the end of my gallery album and on the Wood Magazine website. It is truly a case of "works better than it looks" or "function over form."

The other two designs are still under wraps and will likely be that way until the products are released. Since I won't be involved in the process of getting them ready for marketing this time, I won't know what they look like or how they work until the manufacturer lets me see them or sends me a prototype. They may be different than what I submitted.

 

[KenOfCary]

Cool. Congrats.

You mentioned patents. Do you handle the paperwork for that yourself or do you have someone that does that piece for you?

- Ken.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Cool. Congrats.

You mentioned patents. Do you handle the paperwork for that yourself or do you have someone that does that piece for you?

- Ken.

Due to the potentially extreme cost, the decision and expense of a patent application is the responsibility of the licensee. If the licensee decides to file, they would request that I assign them the rights to it, but my name still goes on any patent. In many, many cases it is just not worth it because of cost, useful life of the product, or the ease with which a competitor can avoid infringing with a similar product. Look what has happened with the Rockler "Bench Cookie" which as far as I can tell was not patented, they just trademarked the name. Seems like everyone is making a knock-off: Woodworker's Supply Wolf Bench Paw, Peachtree and Woodcraft's LOC-Blocks, Bench Dog Bench Cookie Work Grippers (same as BC, different license?), or make your own from hockey pucks and anti-slip pads from Lee Valley.

Remember, I'm supposed to be retired. :wsmile: I do this for fun and don't want to invest my own money or time, other than what it takes to come up with the design, write a proposal, and sometimes build a prototype. I just prepared proposals with text and nice SketchUp drawings, but didn't build prototypes for my two latest designs.

 

[Eric Laudenbacher]

Well done and Congratulations!:eusa_danc

 

[red]

Congrats! That is pretty awesome.

Red

 

[cpowell]

That's very cool Alan.

Retired or not it's neat to get a return on your time and intellectual investment.

Chuck

 

[scsmith42]

Alan, very cool and well done! I intend to purchase an I-box when it's available, and look forward to seeing what else you have up your sleeve!

Congratulations and thanks for providing your fellow woodworkers with more toyls!

Scott