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Stick-to-it-iveness is the Plan for Inventor of Adhesive-Free Tape
Things are in the works for 2002 INPEX exhibitor, Hugo Maisnik. Four companies have expressed interest in working with his invention, Hugo's Amazing Tape, since he exhibited it last May at INPEX, America's largest invention trade show and inventors conference.
"Ever since we went to INPEX, things have been happening," said Maisnik. "The show was really great for me." His reusable, self-clinging, glueless tape was the recipient of the Art Fry Award at the annual trade show. Maisnik recalled that Fry, the inventor of Post-it Notes and keynote speaker at INPEX 2002, was very complimentary of Hugo's Amazing Tape, even comparing it to Post-it Notes.
Smart Inventions and OxyClean are two of the companies that have "made nice offers," according to Maisnik, to produce a direct response television commercial in order to sell Hugo's Amazing Tape to the viewing public. If successful on television, the product would then be mass-produced for sale in major retail chains.
But Maisnik isn't quite ready to sign away the suggested 60 percent of the potential profits and have a large company take over the reins. For now, he's decided to do things on his own and see how far he can go without corporate backing. The entrepreneur is working on his own response television program, which should air in June or July in a test market in Texas.
"We'll see what happens and then go from there," he said, still not ruling out the option of signing a corporate deal. Maisnik is also in negotiations with an Australian firm that wants to produce a direct response spot for Australian television. And another company in England is interested in doing a similar program. "They all saw [the tape] at INPEX," he said. "If I hadn't gone to the show, none of that would be happening."
According to Maisnik his product was discovered by accident. "We manufactured about $20,000 worth of the material for a different purpose, but it was no good." He was reluctant to throw it away, and then discovered the tape had what he called a "tremendous quality." The tape doesn't have any adhesive, but it holds tighter than duct tape and can be reused again and again, according to Maisnik. "What started out as an accident, became an opportunity."
He developed the tape into a product that he feels has unlimited uses, such as holding wood pieces together while gluing, bundling documents, strapping together heavy objects, securing plants to poles, temporarily repairing radiator hoses, keeping packages sealed and fishing line tangle-free, just to name a few. The tape has even been used to relieve arthritic pain in fingers and hands, serve as a sling for broken arms, support ankle sprains and secure patients to a stretcher.
People who do embroidery or quilting have also discovered the benefits of Hugo's Amazing Tape. Maisnik and his distributors sell the tape at sewing shows every year in 30 cities around the country. The tape prevents embroidery thread from unraveling, and quilters use it to arrange all the pieces of a quilt into an ideal pattern. At the sewing shows, Maisnik also demonstrates dozens of other ways the tape can be used to make life a little easier. "Taking it to those shows gives me an opportunity to demonstrate it to a lot of people," he said.
"I can't return to INPEX in 2003, but I have two other inventions in the works and INPEX is the first place I would take them. The experience of the tradeshow and the INPEX Inventors University is invaluable to inventors," said Maisnik.
"INPEX provided me with a lot of feedback and suggestions on how I might improve on my idea," he added. "The creativity generated by all the input at INPEX was terrific."
While Hugo Maisnik's experience is not typical of what most INPEX exhibitors can expect from attending the trade show, we are pleased to report it as a result of what can happen from attending INPEX — the Invention Show.
