• We offer inventors a free, honest, confidential evaluation of their ideas.
• If we decide to become your agent, we'll represent your ideas at no charge for any of our services--including development, marketing, and research. BIG makes money only by sharing royalties with inventors, not by charging inventors for services.
• Opportunities for inventing, such as Idea Hunts and contests
• Membership in the BIG Network, with notification of Idea Hunts, Roadshows, contests

BIG does not charge inventors for reviewing or representing ideas. We make money by licensing ideas--selling a company the rights to produce an invention in return for royalties and advance money--and from fees that companies sometimes pay us for services. As your agent, we would split advances and royalties 50/50 with you on the licensing deals we negotiate. Because we do not charge for our services and can only invest our efforts in a limited number of ideas, we end up representing only about 1-3% of the ideas we evaluate.

BIG is organized by different markets. Our main areas of interest are:

• Consumer Product Goods
• Food, Beverage, and Packaging
• Retail and Promotional Products

We particularly welcome ideas in these categories: food and beverage; toys and specialty gifts; kitchen and housewares; office supply; gardening tools; health and wellness; children's; fitness; and infomercial items.

If you have ideas in other categories, please inquire about our interest first before submitting them. Our client list and interests do change frequently.

EXCEPTIONS: At this time, we're NOT interested in videos, books, music, CDs, and licensed products.

We welcome ideas from professional and amateur inventors of all ages. If an inventor is under 18, a parent or legal guardian must fill out the registration form, sign all agreements and be present during a Roadshow presentation or a phone review. Big Idea Group employees and their immediate families and members of the same household or affiliates and agents of Big Idea Group are not eligible to participate.

There are three ways for Big Idea to evaluate your idea. Whichever method you select, our evaluation is free, honest, and confidential:

• Come to a Roadshow. At our Roadshows, which are staged in different cities around the country, inventors can privately present their ideas to a panel of industry experts. For our Roadshow Calendar, click here.
• Arrange to speak to us by phone.
• Mail in an idea for evaluation any time. Please note that we do NOT accept email submissions at this time.

For each one of our Hunts, we post separate guidelines and Entry Agreements. Directions about how to submit are given with the guidelines. Click here to read more about participating in Hunts.

Click here for an overview of our process.

Our requirements are that you have a

• Well-articulated idea and clear explanation of the invention--see our Sample Submission for suggested information and presentation
• Registration Form
• Entry Agreement

We also prefer but don't require that inventors submit the following:

• Competitive research and patent research
• Visual or prototype, if possible--even a rough sketch is welcomed
• Any information on patents that you have obtained

You do NOT need a patent, trademark, or copyright on your idea.

PLEASE SUBMIT ONLY DUPLICATE MATERIALS, NOT ORIGINALS. While we do our best to take care of prototypes and samples, we can't be responsible in the event that something is misplaced or damaged. If you must send an original, please discuss this with us before submitting your material.

You should send all of the above items. AGAIN, WE ASK YOU TO SEND ONLY DUPLICATE MATERIALS, NOT ORIGINALS. If you would like to participate by phone, please include a cover letter requesting a phone presentation. Upon receipt, we will contact you to schedule an appointment. (Please note: due to time constraints and idea focus, BIG may not be able to honor all requests.) There are no deadlines if you want BIG to evaluate your idea by mail.

Please send materials to:

Big Idea Group
Idea Submission: Phone [or Idea Submission: Mail]
175 Canal Street, 5B
Manchester, NH 03101

An idea created by multiple inventors is welcome, though you must state that on the BIG Registration Form. Your team must select one person as the main contact (this will not affect how any possible royalties would be distributed later on). Also, we will need everyone's signature on the Entry Agreement (including that of a parent or legal guardian for those under 18). For a Roadshow or phone presentation, only one inventor need participate.

No, we don't require either a patent or trademark. However, if you should have either, please let us know.

All BIG's staff are under signed confidentiality agreements and BIG only deals with reputable companies. In addition, the first clause of our Entry Agreement provides you with confidentiality protection. Since we deal with so many inventors, it's impractical for us to negotiate and process hundreds of Nondisclosure Agreements.

Inventors must also understand that both BIG and its corporate clients are involved in the business of researching and developing many ideas for new products. Either or both BIG and its corporate clients might have previously received, or might receive, third party ideas similar or identical to the inventor's idea. Inventors should understand that participating in the Roadshow will not in any way limit BIG's or its corporate clients' right to use any such similar third party idea.

BIG's Roadshow is your opportunity to present your invention to BIG in person for a private, confidential evaluation. BIG stages Roadshows in cities throughout the United States during the year. During your scheduled appointment, BIG and its panel of experts will review your idea or ideas and offer helpful advice. In addition, BIG selects the most promising ideas to present to potential licensing partners. Click here for more about Roadshows.

Roadshows are private, confidential sessions, and only the inventor, the inventor's guest(s), and BIG panelists will see the inventor's idea. You will be given a few minutes to set up in one of our private showrooms (we usually stage our events in hotel conference rooms). Please note that we generally do NOT have TVs, VCRs, or computers available. You will have approximately 10 to 20 minutes per invention with the advisory panel and may present up to three inventions. (If you have more ideas than that, please let us know and we may be able to book additional time for you.) Make sure you are well prepared (see "What should I present when I show an idea to BIG?"). During the showing, review the key points about your idea as quickly and clearly as possible. Besides asking questions, panel members might make comments and suggestions.

See our Roadshow Event Calendar.

You can register online. If you prefer, we will mail you a packet; email us at info@bigideagroup.net to request a registration kit. The same registration form can be used for a face-to-face Roadshow appearance, a phone conference, or a mail-only submission. Click here for the Roadshow Registration Form.

If you cannot attend a Roadshow in person, you can discuss your idea with us by phone at a later date. Or, if you choose, you can mail in your idea and we'll respond by mail. We'd still ask you to fill out the BIG Registration Form and send us the other requested material (see "What should I present when I show an idea to BIG?").

Roadshow:
At a Roadshow, you will receive a confidential evaluation from BIG and our panel of experts. (Manchester Roadshows are typically only attended by BIG staff.) You can present your idea or ideas, demonstrate a prototype, answer questions, and get feedback from us.

Phone:
By phone, you will be able to present information to BIG, ask questions or respond to questions, and hear our advice.

Mail:
Since we receive a great many submissions by mail, our response to those inventions is brief and general.

• Appeal
• Uniqueness/originality
• Market potential and brand life
• Competitive environment
• Meets safety standards
• No significant marketing, manufacturing, or intellectual property issues

1. We review your idea--either in person, via phone, or by mail.
2. After the initial review, we usually take 4-6 weeks to evaluate your concept. We use this time to put your invention in context with other ideas we see, perhaps do some competitive and intellectual property research, and maybe share it with some trusted consultants.
3. Get back to you with an answer:
   • Pass: We might pass for a variety of reasons, including similar product on the market, your invention needs more development, or we don't have a good client match
   • Ask you to do more work: For example, we might suggest some changes, ask for a "works-like" prototype, advise more field testing, etc.
   • Agree to represent you: We'd ask you to either Sign a Representation Agreement, giving BIG the right to represent the idea for 180 days. Or we might ask you to sign a Licensing Agreement, which gives BIG the right to commercialize or sublicense the idea.

Please keep in mind that we elect to represent only 1-3% of the ideas we review.

A licensing deal is an agreement that a company will pay you royalties (generally a percentage of sales) in exchange for the right to develop and market your invention. BIG might either license an invention from you and take it directly to market. Or BIG might license the invention from you and sublicense it to another company, who will take it to market. Specific terms of every licensing deal differ, including amount of royalty paid. Typically, when BIG sublicenses an idea, we split royalties and advances 50/50 with you. Click here to review our standard Legal Agreements.

BIG does not charge inventors for our services. Therefore, we must concentrate on only those ideas that are the most promising and match the needs of one of our clients. We choose to represent only 1-3% of the ideas we review.

Click here for our contact information.