How inventors can transform great ideas into profitable products Each year only two percent of the 300,000 new patent applications are successfully developed and marketed. This guide walks inventors through the legal, prototyping, funding, subcontracting, and marketing steps necessary for success. Pamela Riddle Bird (Sandpoint, ID) is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Innovative Product Technologies, Inc. She has been interviewed on 20/20 and other television shows.