At first glance, Louise Honeycutt doesn’t strike a person as an inventor. Louise is a petite, neatly dressed, 60ish woman that lives in a remote area of the San Luis Valley. She has been pursuing a patent with the US patent office for approximately five years. Most of the communication between her and the US patent office has been in handwritten documents since Louise does not own a computer and lives “off the grid” (no public electrical hook-up to her home)
Louise read in the local paper about the services of the Business Support Center and made the 55 mile one-way trip to obtain some free, confidential business counseling. With a large portfolio weighing her down, Louise began the counseling session by giving me history of her invention, her encounter with a t.v. inventor “support” company and her progress with the U.S. Patent Office. We discussed her target market in detail and brainstormed on the various options and costs of getting her invention on the market. We discussed useful Internet sites that would assist her in her research. Our next appointment was scheduled at a library half way between my office and her home so she could see for herself what the Internet has to offer. The first stop on the Internet tour was to the US Patent Office, then the IBM patent research site and next E-Bay for a potential testing ground for her market. As we walked through the process of getting a free e-mail address, Louise sat back and said “I’m in awe ….I can’t believe we live in a time like this…it’s a whole new world”
Since our last meeting, Louise has dived into the use of technology fearlessly. Louise has researched other patents that are related to hers via the Internet. She is complying with the requirement that her patent be typed, not handwritten. And she is communicating more efficiently and effectively via e-mail.