SALIDA — Identify the problem that needs solving and check out the competition. Develop a technology that is superior to prior solutions. Conduct a thorough patent search. Do as much of the early work on your own without outside help.
And keep your idea secret until it is protected.
These are key pieces of advice Salida’s Inventive Resources, Inc. president John J. Paoluccio has for prospective inventors.
His favorite helpful hint? Don’t get too attached to your product.
“Throw away the first pancake. Consider that every product can be improved,” Paoluccio said.
The above tips can save time and money, commodities that are rapidly exhausted when trying to transform concepts and ideas into patent-worthy products and successfully bring them to market.
Paoluccio learned these lessons firsthand and following them has led to success. His product, the Manhole Odor Eliminator, trademarked MOE, won the San Joaquin Entrepreneur Challenge in 2012, and after three years of waiting, Paoluccio was notified in mid-December that 16 of 17 submitted patent claims for MOE were accepted.
MOE’s success started with the due diligence work Paoluccio strongly recommends all up and coming inventors conduct.
“It did not take long to do a market search on the problem. The Internet has many horror stories about the hazardous hydrogen sulfide gas that has that rotten egg smell,” Paoluccio said.
With an estimated 15 to 20 million sewer manholes in existence and 5 percent to 10 percent of them having odor problems, Paoluccio also recognized the huge business potential of designing a unique technology that would do away with the stench.
“We learned from city engineers that have to deal with this odor problem that the existing products and solutions were costly, labor intensive and not very effective,” he said.
Keeping these challenges in mind, Paoluccio designed MOE utilizing a bladder that expands and contracts with sewer gases, only letting those at the peak escape into a carbon filter that removes odor. Typical sewer solutions that don’t buffer emitted gases have to change filtering devices four to five times a year. MOE’s bladder design extends the life of a single carbon cartridge up to a year, drastically reducing the operating cost to users.
Inventive Resources expects to sell more than 400 units worldwide in 2015. Customers include municipalities, amusement parks, casinos and food courts.
“Anywhere a lot of people congregate in one area and sugary-substances go down drains would benefit from the MOE,” Paoluccio said.
Paoluccio’s father, John A. Paoluccio, isn’t surprised by the success of his son’s MOE product and its associated patents. The younger Paoluccio grew up in the innovation business. In 1972, the elder Paoluccio launched John Paoluccio Consulting Engineers, which in 1984 transitioned into Inventive Resources, Inc., a firm specializing in developing marketable solutions that solve global environmental problems.
“Over the years, he would come in here and get into the projects,” said the senior Paoluccio of his son.
Inventive Resources enjoys having several dozen patents and patents pending on its products. One of those patents is for the Water Decontaminator, a product that originated from the younger Paoluccio’s college work and would eventually spark the idea for MOE.
While earning a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pacific, Paoluccio and a fellow student entered a regional competition requiring contestants to design, build, test and operate a water-filtering system using materials only found in the mid-1800s.
Paoluccio and his teammate, a civil engineering major who would later become his wife, won first place. The basic concept they utilized in that competition would become the basis of Paoluccio’s senior project, The Water Decontaminator. The Water Decontaminator was patented about two years after Paoluccio graduated from Pacific in 2002 and is now produced at Inventive Resources.
“I did a pilot test with one customer with 11 units for a year long test. Since then we have installed an average of 100 to 200 per year. To date we have approximately 1,250 units installed,” Paoluccio said.
One idea often leads to another, and so it was with the beginnings of MOE.
“While installing our Water Decontaminator products in a city storm drain system, a supervisor of maintenance asked if we had anything for eliminating the odor from sewer manhole covers,” Paoluccio said.
For others who believe they have a unique and marketable idea, Paoluccio suggests keeping costs down and utilizing as much free assistance as possible. The Internet is the best place to start.
“The first step is to conduct a patent search and to see what products are currently used. Google it!” Paoluccio said.
After developing a well-researched idea, not something just drawn up on a paper napkin, hopeful inventors also can contact the Stanislaus Business Alliance (www.stanalliance.com) for advice. Clients obtain access to engineers, manufacturers, attorneys and successful inventors at no charge. Paoluccio is one of the inventors who offers consulting services to the Alliance.
“That is a free service to the inventor or business,” he said.
Once these initial steps have been taken, it is crucial to protect the concept early on.
“Filing for a provisional patent gives the inventor a year to decide to file for an expensive utility patent,” Paoluccio said.
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