You’ve done your homework, you want full control, and you are committed to taking your invention forward.
With our inventing services, the financial investment is your responsibility. and you maintain 100% control of everything from product development to commercialization.
Licensing is the easiest path to profit: get paid while others turn your idea into a product and manage the day-to-day grind.
With licensing, someone else is the invests in your idea and maintains control. Our Brutally Honest Review is a smart and honest way to start your licensing journey.
Our extensive library of invention resources has been developed over more than 20 years to help inventors make great decisions.
Browse our Resource Library for Inventors and build your knowledge about everything from NDA's & confidentiality agreements to patents, licensing, manufacturing and more.
Products created and commercialized by Invention City and its partners have generated over $500,000,000 in retail sales and tens of millions in royalty income. We are actively looking to license new inventions in all categories and all stages of development. When we say "yes" we offer to do it all and pay for everything so that you risk nothing more - we take responsibility for patents, prototypes, engineering, design and marketing, to turn your new invention idea into a manufactured product with a real opportunity for market success. The first step to working with us is our Brutally Honest Review. Click to see the video and read our fine print in bold.
Starting as garage inventors we've had over 25 years of experience creating, developing, licensing and selling inventions to Fortune 100 corporations and start-up companies. This gives us deep first hand knowledge of prior art research, market evaluation, building prototypes, engineering for manufacturing, industrial design, writing and filing US and international patents and trademarks, defending patents and trademarks in the US and internationally, negotiating licensing agreements, managing licensing relationships, sourcing and managing manufacturing and fulfillment, marketing via traditional distribution to mass merchants, chains, individual retailers, direct marketing via DRTV, internet and crowd funding, forming strategic partnerships and launching and selling start-up companies. We don't know of anyone in our industry who's had our breadth and depth of experience. We've enjoyed a lot of success and have learned from failures too. Learn more about us here.
Over the years we've heard from inventors who've wasted thousands, tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars pursuing their dreams and failing. Invention City's mission is to help inventors keep money in their pockets, increase their chances of success and commercialize great new product ideas through licensing and partnership deals. The Invention City team is comprised of successful inventors and entrepreneurs who've made their money by bringing new patented products to market. We want to make money with you, not from you. Read about us here .
Lies don't fly.
Choosing Invention City
The difference between Invention City and other invention companies is the success, depth and unique experiences of the Invention City team along with a business model that's structured to profit with inventors rather than from them. Invention City grew out of WorkTools, Inc., (read about WorkTools here.) We come at this business having been bona fide garage inventors and that's where our hearts remain. These links explain:
We believe that inventors should do as much as they can on their own and then, when informed and ready, seek help and advice from providers who genuinely care. Our Brutally Honest Review is a great way to get professional feedback and a real chance for success. A visit to the info booth is a good way to get started. Be careful about disclosing proprietary and confidential information to anyone. We hope that your visit is productive. Please visit us often and let us know how we can make things better.
Invention City provides inventors and new product idea developers with information, resources and help for each stage of the inventing process. Use the links above to learn how to:
Dandelion™ Doll by Kelly Drumgoole Some inventions begin as loose ideas, waiting to be shaped. Others arrive with a sense of clarity that guides every decision from the start. When Kelly Drumgoole came to Invention City in November 2023, she already possessed a strong, thoughtful vision for what would become Dandelion™ Doll. She wasn’t searching for direction—she was looking for the right support to bring her idea into the world with care. As Kelly describes it: “A tender & whimsical reimagining of the voodoo doll, created not for harm but for healing. Inspired by the childhood ritual of blowing on ...
Pursuing a licensee is rarely a straight line. Here's how to stay on someone's radar without becoming a burden. Whether you're following up on an initial expression of interest, reaching out cold, or trying to revive a conversation that has gone quiet, the same challenge appears again and again: You need to stay on someone's radar without becoming a burden. Most inventors underestimate how difficult that balance is - and how long it can take. In licensing, email remains the primary mode of communication. You may supplement with an occasional phone call, a LinkedIn message, or (in rare cases) a ...
It happened to me again last week, and this time they were good. The call came in with "US Patent and Trademark Office" displayed on my phone. I answered without hesitation - USPTO examiners do occasionally call applicants, and I've taken those calls before. The conversation started normally enough. The caller referenced a trademark I had filed just a few days earlier. He had all the details: the application number, the filing date, the mark itself. Then came the ask: $550 to "issue" the trademark. That's when I knew. I hung up immediately. But here's what concerns me: If I ...
Know what's out there before you commit to going forward.Before spending thousands of dollars and countless hours developing an invention, you need to answer two critical questions: What already exists? and Is there room for you to succeed? A prior art search examines anything that shows your invention—or something similar—already exists: patents, published applications, commercial products, academic papers, ads, and even videos. While patentability is one outcome, the real goal for most inventors is to understand the market: what solutions exist, how your idea compares, and whether a genuine opportunity remains. Step 1: Start with Perplexity.ai General AI assistants—like ChatGPT ...
Can your invention clear the obstacles between dream and reality? As an inventor, there's nothing quite like the thrill of seeing your idea come to life. You've sketched, prototyped, refined, and finally—you're holding a working version of your invention in your hands. The temptation at this moment is powerful: skip ahead to patents, pitches, and production. But this is precisely when you need to pump the brakes and ask yourself the hardest question of all: Does this invention actually offer a better solution than what's already out there? The Reality Check Every Inventor Needs Recently, we evaluated an invention ...
