Life's a beach

Name: Katherine Drayton

Business: Sand Wedge

Industry: Manufacturing

IP smart since: 2007

The Sand Wedge is a beach chair with a difference. Unlike a traditional folding beach chair that is heavy and can only be used as a seat, the compact and lightweight Sand Wedge is a back pack, a beach bag, beach seat and sun lounge all in one.

Hitting the surf was a fun family activity for Katherine Drayton, but in getting from the car to the beach she often found herself being loaded up with beach chairs, umbrella and beach bag overflowing with beach towels, and undoubtedly wishing she had that extra set of hands.

“This was when I started wondering how I could make this whole experience better. I thought, what could I design that would hold most of the things I need for the beach, that could be carried as a back pack and leaving those much needed hands free for the other larger necessities,” says Katherine.

“When I made my first Sand Wedge it was really just for me, as I have a spinal condition that made the whole beach experience pretty bad. I showed my idea to family members and they thought it was great and joked about me going on the ABC’s The New Inventors.” As Katherine further developed the concept, she began to think they may be right and looked into getting a patent or at least researching if it was possible.

“I thought the new buzz word was IP, and making sure you own the rights to your invention” says Katherine.

Katherine went on a search mission to see if anyone had invented something that was similar to her concept.

She says, “Do as much research as you can yourself to begin with because patent attorney’s and paid searches can cost a lot of money, and there is no guarantee that your invention will be accepted for registration”.

Finding there was nothing like the Sand Wedge protected in Australia or the US, Katherine decided to go ahead with getting IP protection. To start with, she saw a patent attorney to learn more on what a patent was and what it actually protected. She then decided to use the patent attorney to file a provisional patent application which gave her 12 months to research if the product would be viable on the market.

Katherine advises, “As much as possible, keep your idea to yourself while you are deciding what to do, it’s hard but important.”

“I also decided within that 12 months, to get a design registration as a patent protects the way something functions and a design protects the way something looks. I currently have IP protection in the form of an innovation patent, a design registration and have my logo trade marked so I own all the IP related to my business,” says Katherine.

Getting IP protection was important for Katherine, firstly to ensure ownership of the rights to her invention and then to be able to commercially exploit those rights.

“My plan was initially to get proof of marketability and then see if I could sell the rights to my idea. Now as my business grows, which still was in my initial plan, I am getting more attached to my business and to where this whole idea is taking me.”

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