Finnish inventors step up and show off proposed innovations

Inventions need to be marketed, too

print this

By Tuomas Niskakangas
     
      Vroooom! The Hurrikaani exhibition hall in Viitasaari resonates with noise when inventor Aleksei Ülle agrees to a request to ride another circuit on his all-terrain scooter.
      Terho Argillander, an admirer of Ülle's scooter, directs the attention of the other viewers toward the rumbling sound, and proposes further development of the engine's muffler system.
      "No way, Jose!" Ülle responds. He feels that a loud noise is a central part of the attraction of the scooter.
     
Ülle, who is from Espoo, and his brother Matevi Ülle, got together with about 70 other inventors at the "Week of Inventions" fair, which ended in Viitasaari last Tuesday. The purpose of the fair, which was arranged for the first time, is to establish contacts between inventors and companies who might take the product another step along the way.
      One of the people behind the event is Jouni Hynynen of the Employment and Economic Develpment Centre of Central Finland. Hynynen says that the utilisation of inventions usually works best when it is done as part of one's own business activities. Inventors who try to sell their patents are rarely successful.
      "First of all, companies often do not know of the existence of an invention. Second, an invention often needs to be developed further before companies can become interested in it", Hynynen says.
     
One inventor who has gone far in developing his product is Heikki Kärnä, who is responsible only for the assembly of a novel lever axe that he has developed. The parts come from subcontractors.
      The weight of the blade on the lever axe is on the other side. When it hits a piece of wood the blade turns and splits it, using the energy in the sideways motion.
      Kärnä feels that the invention is a significant one, noting that with the exception of the materials used, the humble axe has not been significantly developed since the time of the cavemen.
      Petteri Ilanne is both demonstrating and marketing his invention. Ilanne's Kakkis dog poop shovel appears to be selling well. The idea came when Ilanne came to the realisation that collecting dog waste using traditional means was "rather disgusting".
     
Ilanne has struggled with red tape in his patent applications, and elsewhere. As he tried to get the S-Group of retail stores to sell his products, he was asked to fill in a product information form.
      "The form asked if animal testing had been used in the development of the product. It was kind of tricky to answer that one."
      Erkki Keurulainen was at the fair to look for a possible manufacturer for a toy car and wooden horse with a new kind of steering mechanism.
      Another invention put forward by Keurulainen was a Velcro system for attaching a light to pieces of clothing, such as the visor of a baseball cap.
      "I did not dare bring my other inventions, because they did not have patent protection". Keurulainen says that getting a patent is both expensive and difficult.
     
Hynynen notes that professional help is available for the patent process. The Foundation for Finnish Inventions offers advice and financial support for the development of inventions in different phases.
      "The more complicated an invention is technically, the more difficult it is to describe an invention in a patent application", Hynynen says.
     
An invention competition was also arranged during the week. The winner was a new method of teaching piano playing, put forward by Karela Viljanen.
      Viljanen's method and the device that is used to support it create a bridge between written notes and the keyboard.
      The panel of judges felt that the method significantly speeds up the early phases of learning the instrument, and gives a new kind of motivation to study.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 29.8.2007

More on this subject:
 The Finns are an inventive bunch

Links:
  Innofin, Foundation for Finnish Inventions
  Invention Market

TUOMAS NISKAKANGAS / Helsingin Sanomat
tuomas.niskakangas@hs.fi