Inventors are often the backbone of industrial growth, and the bulk of funds to support innovation comes from the Government. That means more dollars have gone toward military research than consumer products. ''Our Government invests in laser research for 'Star Wars','' said Richard I. Samuel, president of the Patlex Corporation, a laser company in Chatsworth, Calif. ''The Japanese invest theirs in diodes used in compact disk players.''
Twenty years ago, American inventors obtained 50 times as many patents as the Japanese, who now receive two in five, said Donald J. Quigg, commissioner of the Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Quigg finds this a dangerous sign that America may be losing its competitive edge.
This trend bothered Stephen P. Gnass, a Beverly Hills, Calif., business consultant. He organized the Invention Convention to stanch what he saw as the ebbing spirit of Thomas A. Edison. ''The small inventor who creates most of our technology is the reason for our past successes,'' said Mr. Gnass, whose small-business clients have had innovative ideas but little success in marketing their products.
''They were all stuck on some level and couldn't quite get it all together,'' Mr. Gnass said. The Invention Convention was started to provide a forum where inventors could meet potential investors, manufacturers and distributors. Inventions are not guaranteed or tested by the convention organizers or by outside experts.
More than 13,000 visitors attended the second convention, which was held recently in Pasadena, Calif., and 185 inventors displayed their wares. Some exhibitors had little more than business cards and a single prototype, but more than a dozen have reported making deals, Mr. Gnass said.
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