When Evan Johnson’s calves started to hurt, he built an exercise machine to stretch them. When Tina Gonzales got tired of tripping over wires for game controllers, she built a handy storage device.
Necessity, of course, is the mother of invention. But on Thursday, necessity was waiting in line at the Colorado Convention Center to audition for an upcoming ABC reality show, “American Inventor.”
From the mind of “American Idol” creator Simon Cowell, “American Inventor” is scheduled to begin airing in March and follow the same call-in, vote-for-the-winner style of the show that gave the nation Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino.
The Denver casting call drew about 260 people. One of them could become a household name, or mass-market a household product.
“This is your audition – take it, and make it your own,” said executive producer Liz Bronstein during a pep talk to a nervous crowd. “This is your community; these people share the same passion you have. We’re hoping you have a lot of fun.”
Some of the inventors were secretive about their works, while others openly discussed how they’ve spent their spare time over the past several years. Several had patents pending for their inventions
Kyle Myhra, 14, of Broomfield drew up a prototype for a doggie fan that goes in a car window to keep a canine cool on a hot day. He came up with the idea when he was 9.
Myhra arrived at the convention center at 5:30 a.m. to wait in line to audition – with his mother and younger brother in tow.
“Now if people want to take the dog out, they stick the fan in the window and plug the fan into the cigarette lighter,” Myhra said. “It also has a battery if the cigarette lighter doesn’t work (when the engine is turned off).”
Cooke Fisher of Alma likened himself to Joseph Pilates, inventor of the popular exercise equipment. His Yogsizr Power Pyramid allows yoga practitioners to do basic and advanced positions using a stand-alone apparatus. Fischer, a yoga instructor, spent 12 years and $20,000 to obtain and maintain a patent.
Johnson, the inventor of an exercise machine, relied on the kindness of friends to raise the $3,000 it took to apply for a patent for his ACE Master apparatus to stretch the Achilles’ tendon and calf muscles. His patent is still pending.
“That’s a lot of money for a lay person,” said the Pueblo resident. “People who do have great ideas are scared of that.”
That’s what happened when Gonzales started researching patents for her controller docking station. She spent a total of $1,500 for a professional patent search and software to guide her through the patent-application process without the help of a lawyer.
“It will cost anywhere from $3,000 to $12,000 for a law firm to prepare a very thorough quality application,” said Steve Katsarso, a patent agent and inventor. “The odds are against the average inventor because the pitfalls are so great and it requires so much money. Their patent would issue, but it would be defected in ways that would limit the scope of their invention.”
Myhra’s mother, Coleen, said her son has been working on several inventions, but the doggie fan “was the furthest one along.” Younger brother Mitch, 12, helps refine the ideas by asking questions.
“I don’t think he’s slept,” Coleen Myhra said of Kyle. “At 14, if you teach them to have an idea and not do anything about it, you stagnate it. I don’t want him to have a book of dreams and what-ifs.”
Inventors chosen to proceed to the next round will be contacted within four to six weeks. Denver is the third city visited by the show, which already stopped in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
