Thomas Edison once said, "Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success". So what makes an invention sell?

    Let's start with what an invention really is. An invention is anything that didn't exist before. Anyone can invent, anyone can make an invention, no special skill or body of knowledge is required to make that which didn't exist before.

    "Yeah Jim, that's nice, but most of it is just junk". Yes that's right, which brings me to the topic of usefulness or utility. If a single person wants to use your invention, and pay for it, then I'd argue that the invention graduated from junk to invention. The critical point is that the invention helped someone else in some way. This could be anything from a double jointed, vibration surpressing spoon to a mechanical surgical machine like the daVinci surgical system to even the iPod. 

    So now you have a novel and useful invention. In our society, it makes sense to sell that invention. But what prevents someone else from selling your work without credit? We have patents to do just that, except that the patent law requires that the invention have another criteria. And that is non-obviousness.

    Non-obviousness is a legal term, and it basically means that the invention couldn't be conceived by someone having ordinary skill in the art without undue experimentation. An invention that requires experimentation should be enough to satisfy the criteria for a patent.

    But what if I want my invention to really rock the house? Invention to me is an art, and as such, you have to produce many pieces of junk before you have one that really resonates with society. The answer is provided by Guy Kawasaki.

Think: DICEE

Deep. A great product is deep. It doesn't run out of features and functionality after a few weeks of use. Its creators have anticipated what you'll need once you come up to speed. As your demands get more sophisticated, you discover that you don't need a different product.

Indulgent. A great product is a luxury. It makes you feel special when you buy it. It's not the least common denominator, cheapest solution in sight. It's not necessarily flashy in a Ferrari kind of way, but deep down inside you know you've rewarded yourself when you buy a great product.

Complete. A great product is more than a physical thing. Documentation counts. Customer service counts. Tech support counts. Consultants, OEMS, third-party developers, and VARS count. Blogs about it counts. A great product has a great total user experience-sometimes despite the company that produces it.

Elegant. A great product has an elegant user interface. Things work the way you'd think they would. A great product doesn't fight you-it enhances you. (For all of Microsoft's great success this is why it's hard to name a Microsoft product that you'd call "great.") I could make the point that if you want to see if a company's products are elegant, you need only look at its chairman's presentations.

Emotive. A great product incites you to action. It is so deep, indulgent, complete, and elegant that it compels you to tell other people about it. You're not necessarily an employee or shareholder of the company that produces it. You're bringing the good news to help others, not yourself.

    Apart from something that's merely new, an invention has to be useful and non-obvious to qualify for a patent. On top of that, The DICEE criteria should help weed out all the inventions that really kick things into high gear from the ones that really kick the bucket. Inventing is an art, so be an artist. Produce many works of art, and fail the smart way.