W&P+Mason+Jar+Cocktail+Shaker

=W&P Mason Jar Cocktail Shaker= toc College buddies Eric Prum and Joshua Williams transformed a Mason Jar into a hip-looking cocktail shaker and a potentially million-dollar idea. The friends first conceptualized and designed the Mason Shaker in January 2013. In July, they approached crowdfunding site Kickstarter to raise a modest $5,000 in startup capital to manufacture parts and produce an initial supply of the shakers. Prum, 27, and Willams, 28, blasted through that goal, raising $74,738 from nearly 2,000 investors in a month."We were shocked," said Prum. "This gave us a pretty good idea that people liked our invention." Prum works full time as managing partner, while Williams still has his banking job, but serves as an adviser on product development and business strategy.

Their Mason Shaker -- a Ball Mason jar fitted with a custom lid that converts it into a cocktail shaker -- rolled out in West Elm stores in November of 2012 (right before Christmas!) at a retail price of $29.95.. Their initial order of thousands sold out in just three weeks. By January, sales of the shaker online and through West Elm stores had reached $250,000. The initial contract called for the retailer to carry their Mason Shaker through at least the end of this 2013. media type="custom" key="25109334"

**One year after the mason jar shaker hit West Elm's shelves, the company reached $1M in sales. Then...**

February 12, 2014 - Million-dollar startup threatened by copycat


But they recently learned that a remarkably similar product -- the "Original Mason 16-Ounce Cocktail Shaker" -- was being sold at Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBBY, Fortune 500). Produced by Home Essentials, it sold for $19.99. There were minor differences -- the price, the size, the fact that Prum and Williams' version used an original Ball Mason jar -- but the two products were virtually identical. W&P had filed a patent for their 32-ounce cocktail shaker in March 2012. But it takes an average of 29 months for a patent to be approved -- and businesses are left in limbo in the meantime. "We [now] find ourselves challenged by a large company that's making a knockoff product with impunity," said Prum.

On Dec. 14, 2013, W&P's attorney notified Home Essentials that it was potentially infringing on its product. "The response we got, through a letter, essentially told us that Home Essentials thought our product was unpatentable, and they'd continue to supply their shakers," said Prum. Prum said W&P also sent a letter to Bed, Bath & Beyond, informing the retailer about the dispute.

It's not the first time Home Essentials has been involved in an infringement dispute. In the last 10 years, the company has been a defendant in four copyright and trademark infringement lawsuits, all of which were settled, according to court documents. These types of patent infringement cases can be extraordinarily expensive for small businesses on the other end. "The average costs of infringement lawsuits can be upward of $1 million," said patent attorney Yuri Eliezer. "Most small startups can't afford it." Therefore, he said the disputes typically result in a settlement or the small business being acquired.