Lucky Lotto Scratcher Area Inventor Working to Market His Idea
Jonathan L. has purchased a few scratch-off lottery tickets in his time. "I won $100 one time, when I was too young to play the lottery," he recalled. Now, Jonathan is hoping to be a winner with an invention to help other players scratch their way to riches. Jonathan has teamed with a Florida company called Invention Technologies, Inc. to find a company to manufacture his Lucky Lotto Scratcher. "I believe it will sell, if we can find someone to produce and market it." Details of Jonathan's invention are close held at the moment. "The patent is pending," the 24-year old inventor noted. "It's been certified at the (U.S.) Patent Office. We won't get a patent until there's a licensing agreement." Jonathan came up with his idea last spring, after purchasing a scratch-off ticket. "I thought about it for a couple of months," Jonathan said. "I drew up four or five different ideas." A TV ad for Invention Technologies led Jonathan to contact them about his idea. The Coral Gables, Fla., company offers documentation and research for new inventions and promotion to industries which might use them.
Jonathan invested an initial fee to have the idea researched through the Patent Office to make sure it hasn't already been thought of, and registered. "We had to make sure it was one of a kind," he said. With that hurdle successfully completed, Jonathan decided to take the next step. A brochure was created with an AutoCAD illustration of the Lucky Lotto Scratcher and a short TV commercial. The company has taken the idea to several trade shows so far, Jonathan said, in Atlanta, Las Vegas, and even to Germany. Fees for these steps depend on how much it costs to produce a prototype, Jonathan said, as well as estimated start up costs for the eventual manufacturer. Jonathan has faith the idea will find a manufacturer because it is relatively simple and a convenience. His fellow Americans, he said, are definitely convenience oriented. "If you're sitting on the couch and you can't find the remote, you'll search for it for 10 minutes, rather than get up and change the channel" by hand, he noted.
Jonathan thinks the Lucky Lotto Scratcher is the sort of impulse buy people will pick up at the check-out counter of the convenience store. He has designed it so that it has space for an advertising message, too, he said. He'd like to interest state lottery agencies in the scratcher as a way to promote their lotto games, he added. It would also make a nice advertising giveaway for companies saturated with pens and coffee mugs, he said. If his invention pans out and is picked up by a manufacturer, Jonathan said "I don't see me getting rich off of it." If a company shows interest, there will still be negotiations for licensing and perhaps some work on how to package and display the product. But, said Jonathan, "it would be neat to have a patent on something. I have a few other ideas. I wanted to start with the easy one."