One Million for Wearable Power Supply

The Department of Defense is offering a $1,000,000 prize to the inventor(s) (individual or teams) of a wearable power supply for soldiers that will provide 96 hours of equipment operation and weigh 4kg or less.The contest includes a $500,000 2nd place prize and a $250,000 3rd place prize. Rules of the contest are available at http://www.dod.mil/ddre/prize/rules_doc.html. Registration for the contest ends Nov. 30, 2007.

Patents, Patents Everywhere!

According to Canadian Patent Librarian Michael White, everyone is jumping on the patent reality tv bandwagon. Ever since American Inventor debuted in the Spring of 2006 on ABC, other networks are following suit. PBS will be airing Everyday Edisons in May 2007 and are interviewing Oct. 28 in Chicago for the next season. Nov. 30 is the deadline for patent hopefuls to enter the History Channel’s Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge with a May 2007 airtime. Even Canadians are joining the race with two shows, Discovery Canada’s Patent Bending which tries to figure out why wacky inventions never became popular and CBC’s Dragons’ Den in which inventors compete for the backing of “business moguls” (the dragons).

When do you really need a patent?

For those who might have missed it, here is a terrific article that Business Week ran on the pros and cons of obtaining a patent.

Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge

Win a $25,000 grant if your "breakthrough" invention is selected by The History Channel for its Wednesday night (8pm/7c) television series Modern Marvels. Co-sponsered by the USPTO, the contest ends Nov. 11, 2006.