Persistence Pays Off
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” How many times have you heard that? We think the process of taking an idea from paper to patent to product is actually more like a very long game of chess. It takes strategy, a plan, the ability to adapt and take advantage of new opportunities, and most importantly, it takes persistence.
One of our most promising patents is an invention for a self-shredding label. There are many times where an adhesive label contains sensitive personal-identifying information that should be removed before trashing or recycling packaging. Anyone who has broken a fingernail trying to pry off a label from a prescription bottle or a cardboard box knows how frustrating it can be. Our invention features a unique multi-layer construction so the consumer can easily peel away the label backing to release small chads that effectively destroy the information printed on the label. If you’d like to see it for yourself, check out this YouTube video.
We have been refining this patented invention with industry experts for months, and last year we developed working prototypes to share with interested partners. All along, our focus has been on pharmaceutical packaging and shipping labels, but a funny thing happened when people were able to see the prototype in person. The experts we met with started to see even more ways to take advantage of our idea. They envisioned novelty products, like greeting cards that turn into confetti, security labels for confidential documents, and new ways to create tamper-evident labels. In fact, tamper-evident labels have now become one of our most promising market opportunities.
Tamper-evident labels had not been on our radar, but as we met with potential partners, they gave us an idea. Our self-shredding label could provide two forms of tamper evidence. It easily defaces when the label has been tampered with, and because the label is completely destroyed upon removal, there is no way to reuse the holographic layer that provides the evidence protection. It’s a new technique to provide a better solution than what is currently on the market.
Receiving a patent for your idea is a huge achievement, but that doesn’t mean your invention stops evolving. And it doesn’t mean the hard work is over. It takes persistence and flexibility to take a product to market. We’ve seen over and over how market opportunities evolve, how new partners bring new ideas to the table, and how never giving up on your idea pays off in the end.
We’d love to hear your stories about how you took a patented idea and turned it into a market-ready product in the comments below. And if you are interested in licensing the self-shredding label, contact us at info@invaluableinventions.com.