This is the first in our new series featuring inventors who have commercialized their inventions. How did they do it? Daniel Chiriac is an inventor from Montreal, Canada. As of September, his licensed sofa innovation is available online at HomeDepot in Lifestyle Solutions "Anderson Dark Brown Shrinkable Loveseat to Chair Convertible" as well as at QVC and Overstock. His very cool invention allows an armchair to go to a loveseat in about 30 seconds!
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lifestyle-Solutions-Anderson-Dark-Brown-Shrinkable-Loveseat-to-Chair-Convertible-with-Storage-BRIS2GU2404/310760976
Daniel explains how his invention is not just a design, it's a function. There are a full line of products coming with his technology! He added in an email, “A new version of the Shrinkable Sofa, armchair to/or love seat to/or sofa was made, soon available. It is shipped in a box, transforms in seconds into the furniture you need, no tools needed, everything inside.”
He is a professional mechanical engineer with a master's degree in design and experience in R&D and aerospace. He always tells people that design is made from 2 parts: how it looks, and how it functions. He's with the second one.
Years ago, he looked at his sofa and realized it takes too much space. So he started to imagine how he could shrink it, to have more space available, but also be able to expand it to have comfortable seating when he had guests.
In this interview, licensing expert and inventRight cofounder Stephen Key interviews him about his experience licensing this product on his own. Daniel, thanks for reaching out to share your story of perseverance! It took Daniel four years to get his invention licensed and onto the market. Congratulations Daniel! Your hard work paid off.
Here’s an outline of Daniel’s journey:
His first prototype had 1 to 5 seats for dining room. Looked to find a company to license it all over the world, hundreds of calls, emails, meetings with local companies.
My second prototype I made in my garage, the Shrinkable Sofa: https://youtu.be/nYt9ZOFQ_qQ
Again, calls and emails, nothing. Everybody looks for innovation, but when presented with one... pass. I realized there are not many functions in furniture: you have reclining, expandable table, Murphy bed, sofa bed... and that's about it. So, bringing a new function was very hard, people were telling me, "I don't like this design.” I was telling them this is a function that you can apply to multiple designs, just like reclining.
I managed to convince a local company to make a prototype: https://youtu.be/Ds5BQYYVGWw
And I thought, "That's it!!” My provisional patent application was close to the end, and with this company behind, I wanted to make it everywhere. I thought this is a great product for Europe, where the space is a lot smaller. So, I applied (and paid from my own pocket) a PCT application.
But then I got bad news, that this company was not selling directly, but through retailers. When they asked, nobody wanted this revolutionary idea, so they stopped.
For a while I wanted to stop, but everyone who saw the idea was very excited. I tried Ikea and reached some top managers and engineers, but nothing. Then I tried a Kickstarter campaign to have some publicity, be more visible and get funds to build a ready-to-production model. It failed; I don't have a big presence online and zero funds to make a campaign.
But it was spotted by Business Insider and was featured in all their channels, generating 1.5 million views presently. But still no interest from a manufacturer.
And then, it started with an email to a company in California, they seemed interested, and it was right up their alley for the type of product. It took me almost a year, hundreds of calls, emails. tons of legal modifications to the contract... but this July, after four years of struggling, I signed the licensing agreement with Lifestyle Solutions.
Bringing an invention to market? Let inventRight, the world's leading experts on product licensing, show you how. Co-founded by Stephen Key and Andrew Krauss in 1999, inventRight has since helped people from more than 60 countries license their ideas. Visit http://www.inventright.com for more information and to become their student.
Call #1-800-701-7993 to set up an appointment with Andrew or another member of the inventRight team to discuss how we can help you license your ideas.
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