As of right now, Kreamer doesn't have a direct competitor since there isn't a coffee maker on the market that dispenses creamer with the coffee. Therefore, Kreamer will be competing with people who think the idea of combining the two is lazy and not worth the purchase of a new coffee maker. Our competition will have the mindset of "If it isn't broken, don't change it" so we will have to consider this while creating our pitch deck for Keurig. 

​

As a team, we have shifted from wanting to make our product in house to wanting to patent the product/ idea. After doing research, we found that the average cost to patent an idea ranges from $5,000 to $16,000+ depending on the complexity of the idea. Our product would fall between minimally complex and moderately complex. Based on the United States Patent and Trademark Office, our first step would be to file a patent application that costs $300. Our next step is to hire a patent attorney where we will then apply for two patents. The first being a provisional patent to protect our idea and the second being a design patent to protect the appearance and features. In total this would cost anywhere between $11,200 and $19,900 plus the $300 patent application as well as a maintenance fee of $980 (applied during year 3) bringing the total range to $12,480-$21,180. 

​

If we are successful in getting a deal with Keurig or another name brand company, we will sell them the rights to our license as well as ask for a percentage of sales of each unit that is sold. 

​

​

​

​