VIEWPOINT: Turning an idea into a product

1 December 2009




“A journey from idea to product in packaging is, in my opinion, one of the hardest,” says inventor Mark Sheahan, who runs Compgen and Plasgen Design in the UK. He presented on the topic at the recent Caps and Closures conference in Brussels.

“Being well served, mature and highly sophisticated makes it difficult to be original. ‘Blue sky’ ideas are a rarity these days, but still do happen.” The first Inventor in Residence for the British Library in 2007 and current president of the Institute of Patentees and Inventors has learned to be patient.

His Squeezeopen idea for product categories including foods and hotdrink powder, toiletries and cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and shoe polish, after two years is finally attracting solid licensee interest globally, including in Japan, Asia and the USA, among them Silgan White Cap. This is in addition to a commercial application in South Africa for aromatherapy ‘dough’.

Long experience tells him the best route for a new invention is via a smaller brand name which can be quicker to implement something new. Changing consumer behaviour and expectations is another tough nut to crack, he admits. People will have to get used to squeezing a cap to open it rather than twisting it.




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