This week on Shark Tank, Will Warne pitched his new contraption for toting along a child while running.  He calls his product the KidRunner.   Having purchased a few of these myself, I was curious about his solution.  Based on his presentation, the product looked pretty good.  But the Sharks hated his “Go to market investment” pitch.  This meant they wanted money to finish their prototypes so people with preorders could have them.  The Sharks big concern was that he would always keep tweaking his device and would never be ready for market.

When asked why it was taking so long, Will said that it contained, “Radically complex engineering.”  I figured the best way to find out what was so radically complex, I’d look up his patent application.  For those who are interested, it was published as U.S. Patent Application Pub No. 20160101800.  The patent application is well written, but it was all pretty straight forward stuff.  The application has already been picked up by an examiner and was initially rejected.  Will’s attorney is now haggling with the patent office to see if he can get it through.  Based on the first rejection, I think they are in for a battle.

Patent application aside, the KidRunner didn’t get a deal, primarily because their were no sales.  A word to the novice inventor: Having a good design and a great patent don’t get you very far.  The business folks want to see sales and revenue.