In 2015, inventor Mont Handley pitched his product PittMoss on Shark Tank. PittMoss®, a peat moss substitute made from organic additives and recycled paper, netted a deal from three sharks, and Handley launched his business into a full-scale manufacturing plant. Handley now uses his expertise to guide area innovators as associate director and entrepreneur in residence at the Purdue University Northwest (PNW) Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center (CMEC).
Alongside Handley’s own innovation throughout these endeavors is the consistent help of Hartman Global Intellectual Property Law. Handley has worked with Hartman Global’s highly-skilled and experienced attorneys since his product was in its fledgling stages, and the firm now serves as CMEC’s official partner.
Handley, a Crown Point native, recalled his first negotiations with Gary and Domenica Hartman in 1994, when he was seeking a patent for the product that would become PittMoss®. Though it had a different name then, the product that developed into PittMoss received its first patent thanks to Hartman Global in 1998. Handley relied on the guidance of Hartman Global’s patent attorneys, all of whom began their careers as engineers, to develop his first single-paragraph description into a 20-page patent application complete with renderings.
“What really stands out about Hartman Global’s patent attorneys is that STEM background that they have,” Handley said. “PittMoss® required that kind of knowledge.”
Hartman Global helped Handley understand his product better. He knew he wanted to create a manmade alternative to peat moss, which would prevent the disturbance of peatlands and depleting their environmental resources. The Hartman Global team took the passion project, fine-tuned it, and propelled PittMoss® into a profitable, patentable industry.
In 2013, Handley sold his home and cashed in his 401(k) to build a full scale, proof-of-concept manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania. That year, PittMoss® produced its first ton of product. Less than two years later, Handley pitched PittMoss® on Shark Tank, raising $1.5 million in funding. Throughout this ribbon of success, Hartman Global continued to work with PittMoss® to protect its developments, and continues to do so today. Handley credits much of his product’s success to Hartman Global.
“If anyone is looking for a quality patent attorney, they really can’t do better than Hartman Global,” Handley said.
When Handley returned to Northwest Indiana in 2016 to care for his father, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and dementia, his return coincided with a decision to hand over the reins of PittMoss® to another CEO.
“I felt that I did what I set out to do,” he said. “I got the business started. I realized pretty quickly that running a manufacturing firm is much different than the commercializing of a product. I have this distinct memory of taking my dog out and standing in the parking lot of the plant and thinking, ‘Goodness, what have I done?’” he laughed.
Handley remains on the PittMoss® board of directors. Upon returning home, two fresh opportunities came his way—first, to get to know a side of his father he never knew before, and second, the chance to meet with the chancellor of PNW, his alma mater, for a career opportunity as associate director and entrepreneur in residence for CMEC.
“When I found out about the opening at the [CMEC], I thought the responsibilities really paired nicely with my experience of getting a manufacturing company off the ground,” Handley said.
He easily secured the position. Today, he works with dozens of budding innovators to help them actualize their visions. His role reunited him once more with the Hartman Global team, who serve as an integral facet of the program’s commercialization process. Handley explained the six steps CMEC walks prospective clients through to achieve commercialization:
- Concept viability
- Entrepreneurial viability
- Intellectual property viability
- Customer viability
- Product viability
- Commercial manufacturing viability
Step three is key in helping the client realize whether they should make the move for a U.S. patent.
“Domenica [Hartman] meets with the prospective clients and, if their product is unique enough in its market and shows promise, she gives clients a road map of sorts on what to do with that property,” Handley said.
This stage really determines whether the prospective client will become an actual client of CMEC with a real product to commercialize. From here, the client will pitch the product to 100 potential customers. Hartman Global’s expertise has the potential to help clients better understand their product the way Handley once did.
“Both Gary and Domenica have a very good bedside manner, for lack of a better term, with these matters,” Handley said. “These are people who typically have little to no experience with legal matters, and Domenica makes it especially easy to understand the process.”
Once again, the attorneys’ STEM background also is a plus.
“[CMEC] works with more STEM-focused products than anything, and it really helps to have a team of attorneys who understand the products they’re working with,” Handley said.
CMEC is funded through federal grant dollars and donations from alumni. Hartman Global was recognized as CMEC’s official partner in the federal grant issuance.
“I look at Gary and Domenica and Hartman Global as a massive resource to Northwest Indiana,” Handley said. “Owning intellectual property can translate to massive wealth if it’s commercialized.”
For more information on Hartman Global Intellectual Property Law, visit https://hartmanglobal-ip.com/. For more information on the Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center at Purdue University Northwest, visit https://centers.pnw.edu/cmec/.