HE BUILT ON LIGHT-BULB MOMENTS.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

VALENCIA - The day Dave Duncan scalded his hands on a pot of corn proved to be a very lucky one indeed.

Lucky not for the blisters the accident brought, but for the idea it brought him. His inventor's mind locked around the challenge of designing a flexible, heat-proof glove. He made one, patented it, won several awards and prime government contracts, building a multimillion-dollar company from one simple idea.

While his is a rare case of extreme good luck and tenacity, there are plenty of opportunities for budding creators to follow Duncan's path. Getting an idea isn't that hard, he said, but most people remain in the dark about the next step: turning the idea into a viable product.

``Everyone always says, I ought to do something, but they never do anything about it,'' Duncan said. ``Invention is just a problem and a solution. People talk ... and I do.''

And though it's Duncan's rubbery Kitchen Grips Oven Mitts that made his company hot, he stresses they're not the only gauntlet he has to fight with.

``We're not an oven mitt company,'' he said, relaxing in his comfortably cluttered office. ``We're an invention company. We have ideas and products that have a large range, and we're constantly making things.''

This places him in a rare category, as an inventor who can not only bring a product to market and build a company around it but branch out into other lines. Experts say a novice inventor generally meets with better success signing on with an established firm and licensing his idea. According to Stephen Gnass, founder and chief executive officer of the Hollywood-based National Congress of Inventor Organizations, the easiest local information source is the central library.

``The Los Angeles library is great,'' he said. ``You can do all the research you need right there. The key thing is getting the idea, but the hard part is the work afterward.''

That's where Helen Haskell and her fellow librarians in the Science, Technology and Patents Department come in. With a staff of five specially versed in the intricacies of the U.S. Patent Code and the West Coast's largest collections of patents on file, the site on lower level 2 of the central library functions as a one-stop site for information on turning that light bulb over the head into a bulge in the bank account. This can take some time, however, Haskell cautioned.

``People come in with an idea, and they expect they'll get a patent and make a lot of money,'' she said. ``They don't really know how to do that, so we have books to teach them how to market it.''

For inventors unsure whether their concept will pass muster from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's reviewers, Haskell recommends they scour trade magazines, specialty stores and catalogs to ascertain whether their product is unique enough to set it apart. After laboring through an intensely specific search, they can apply to the USPTO for full protection. According to the standards laid down by the USPTO, nearly anything can be patented, from the visual design of a toy to the utility functions of a tool to even plant life, if the creator ``invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant.''

In the early stages, however, Gnass said a patent may not be warranted.

``The first thing (new inventors) do is run out and try to get a patent, but you don't even need a patent in the U.S. to be protected,'' he said. ``I don't think you should spend any money like that until the time comes. If you do the right due diligence, you're protected under the law thought up by the Founding Fathers. There's a lot of things you need to do, but spending money isn't one of them''

Initial fees for a government-sanctioned utility patent can run more than $1,000, with the renewal fees climbing steeply. To avoid paying so sharply, Gnass recommends merely keeping a detailed, notarized log of all work done on the concept, which accords the creator protection as the first to invent. After test-marketing the product to gauge its appeal, the inventor can then decide which route to take.

``Surely, an entrepreneur can make more money if they take it to market themselves,'' Gnass said. ``But you have to be good at business, too. Not only do you lose the car and house if that goes belly-up, you also lose the patent. It can be easier to just license it and collect the royalties.''

Otherwise, an inventor runs the risk of getting bogged down with business details, rather than spending time in the lab.

``Most of the time when they do that, they think they should be manufacturing, but you shouldn't do that at all,'' Gnass said. ``You should design, then send the products out because, otherwise that takes you out of the creative realm and into the world of running a business.''

Duncan differs from the average tinkerer in that he has a 30-employee company to make his ideas into reality. From tool grips to beauty products, Duncan Industries churns out an average six to eight new ideas each year, making the whimsies he's dreamed up most of his life into reality. Like many of his fellow inventors, he doesn't have academic training to fuel his creative mind, just a knack for problem solving.

``I have no formal education,'' he said. ``I'd have loved to do it, but I grew up blue-collar, where at 17, it's, there's the door, get a job. So I learned early to stay focused.''

Inventor's guide

Resources:

Los Angeles Public Library, Central Branch

Science, Technology and Patents Department

Lower Level 2 of the Tom Bradley Wing

630 W. Fifth St.

Los Angeles

[phone]

National Congress of Inventor Organizations

www.inventionconvention.com

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

www.uspto.gov

Advice for fledgling inventors:

--Document your idea extensively, using the same notebook, and have it notarized.

--Figure what the product's niche would be, then read trade journals and catalogs, and shop specialty stores to ensure its uniqueness.

--Conduct market research to test the product's viability.

--Complete the seven-step process laid out by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, available at patent and trademark depository libraries or www.uspto.gov.

--Decide on a business plan, choosing to license the rights to a larger organization or start on your own.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) Burning himself on a pot of corn was inventor Dave Duncan's impetus for developing these oven mitts.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

Box:

Inventor's guide (see text)