Buckle Business?

A few years ago, I designed a novel locking buckle for a messenger bag strap. To unlock, you press the central button, rotate the plate slightly, and pull it forward off the stem. To re-lock, fit the plate onto the stem, push, and rotate into alignment. Pretty slick, if I do say so myself.

I had a great time developing this. I make my living working with clients to help engineer and bring their products to market, but this was something that was completely my own. After prototyping and refining it, I patented it (US 11564458), along with a smaller version that replaces the hard lock with a detent. The little guy could be used on the straps that hold a bag flap closed.

And then I got too busy to pursue anything further. Now, I’m thinking I'd like to see this out in the world (besides the prototypes on my bags). Unfortunately, I’ve never had the business acumen needed to A) determine if there’s enough of a market to make this worthwhile (either for bag straps or potentially for harnesses) or B) determine how to reach companies that might like to license the technology.

Concurrent with posting this here on my blog, I’m posting to my connections on LinkedIn, to solicit advice. If you are, or know someone who might be, interested in talking about this, please reach out to me.

Thanks!