The fourth criterion that you must take into account is the cost of producing your item. Items that are inexpensive to produce are easier to license than expensive items since the monetary risk for the company is less with a low cost product. Ideally, the company to whom you would potentially license your invention would have everything they need to manufacture your product already in place. It would not require a lot of tooling up expenses for them. Obviously, to be inexpensive to produce, the cost of the manufacturing materials must be very low. If the raw materials are expensive, the product will not be inexpensive to produce. The cost of getting ready to manufacture your product, the tooling up cost, also goes into making a product inexpensive or expensive to produce. For example, if a plastic injection mold is required, that will greatly increase the initial cost of manufacturing your invention. Again, if you will be the manufacturer, it is no less important to have a product that will be inexpensive to produce.
If you plan to manufacture your own product then look at the answers to all of these questions from the manufacturer’s point of view as well as the inventor’s point of view. In a manner of s eaking, you are wearing both ”hats” and you must view your product objectively and dispassionately in order to make a sound business decision on whether or not to pursue this particular idea.
