Does anyone have some suggestions or connections when it comes to licensing a product? My husband and I created a product that we were looking to get a Patent for (did the Provisional Patent) and then see if we would license it instead of trying to mass-produce it ourselves.

We went way down the rabbit hole trying to manufacture our product ourselves only to have the market turn and the legislation change as it relates to "child related products" requiring third-party certification which in turn made it too costly for us to continue.

I would guess that also part of our problem is that we didn't want to have our product manufactured in China but rather keep it as an American Made product. We believe in this country and really don't ever want to be at the mercy of another country just to get our product made. (So yes, it is possible that it will never make it to market with this view).

After boring you with some historical information - can anyone help us find the proper "Letters" that need to be sent, and possibly how to research the best manufacturers for our product to target? Also what legal measure do we need to have in place, if any for when (being positive) we receive interest? It is our understanding that it is premature to enlist legal support at this early stage, since there isn't any proven interest from a manufacturer.

There is however lots of interest from our target market - more than we can manage ourselves. In lies the problem.

Thank you!

Sj

Not knowing what your product is, my advice is rather general and probably useless. But, I have worked with some manufacturers and new product launches.

If you feel the product has a broad appeal, not just a small niche, then you might want to take a broader approach. If you can demonstrate a market for your product you can get manufacturers and/or investers to work with you.

If that is the case I wouldn't spend any money, other than on patent protection, right now. I'd work on analyzing the market. With that info you can move forward and approach manufacturers and investers (if you need them).

On the other hand, if you want to get "certified" so that you can continue manufacturing it shouldn't be too difficult to find out which
agency handles that. You might want to contact Underwriters laboratories (UL), they test certain products for safety and sanitation and may also test for child related certifications. They may at least lead you in the right direction.

If you care to share any additional info I might be able to help a little. If you don't want to disclose the actual product then maybe some generalities, price range, target market, size, materials (metal, plastic, textile)...mode of manufacturer, assembly, molding etc).

BTW-I've worked with a few American manufacturers over the years and have seen the destruction of American shoe, clothing, furniture, die cast and other manufacturing companies up close. Of course we've all seen the demise of the big manufacturing industries...so I applaud you for your "Made in America" attitude!

If I can help a little..let me know.

Paul













Don't bother with that is that