The Shadow
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) – Richard Shapiro would go to the Oceanfront and see families pull their kids’ wagons to and from their cars and, even more taxing, try to fit them in their vehicles.
There’s got to be a better way, he thought.
For the past 10 years, Shapiro, a personal injury lawyer who works and lives at the Beach, has dabbled at inventing a wagon that’s easier to carry and load.
In September, his designs finally rolled onto the market.
Radio Flyer, one of the nation’s top wagon manufacturers, signed a licensing agreement with Shapiro and began selling two models that include one of his inventions – a handle that folds over and into the wagon.
At the same time, Shapiro began selling a version on Amazon.com that goes one step further: The wheels also fold into the wagon, which can be carried by handholds on its sides.
“It has definitely not been an overnight sensation,” Shapiro said in his office. “I laugh when I read about people who get an idea and a year later they’re selling it.
They make it look so easy. This isn’t what happened to me.”
When asked about Shapiro’s work, R. Blake Johnston, a lawyer for Radio Flyer in Chicago, wrote in an email: “The only comment Radio Flyer has regarding this matter is that it confirms that the license agreement exists and that it is satisfied with the agreement.”
Shapiro, 52, said he’s learned a lot since he began his pursuit. “I couldn’t even draw a straight line when I started,” he said. His current sketches are architect-crisp and immaculate.
“I studied hand trucks, wagons and anything else that folded,” Shapiro wrote on his website. “I looked at ideas everywhere. I built mock-ups in my garage out of cardboard, wood and foam insulation.”
He engaged draftspeople, mechanics and patent attorneys, though he soon became skilled enough in that area of the law to do it himself.
The toughest part, Shapiro said, was winning patent approval.
“Their job is to keep you out,” he said of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. “They’re like a gatekeeper. They don’t let you in the castle walls until they’re sure someone hasn’t done it before.”
Shapiro said he’s received 15 U.S. patents, some representing minor improvements on the wagon design. He’s learned “the simpler you can make it, the better.”
The key to the fold-in handle is how it’s attached to the wagon.
On a traditional wagon, Shapiro said, the handle is connected to a bolster affixed to the bottom of the wagon.
That’s why “you couldn’t fold the handle out of the way.”
In his version, the handle is connected to the top of the wagon, allowing it to rest in the wagon when it’s not being pulled.
Radio Flyer is selling two models with the foldable handle: the Outback Wagon ($119.99) and the Ultimate Family Wagon ($149.99), both in Radio Flyer’s trademark red.
About five years ago, Shapiro established Pancake Wheel LLC as an independent “invention design company.” The name, he said, advertises the selling point of his latest creation now selling on Amazon.com: “Everything folds flat as a pancake.”
In this model, the wheels can be lifted above the wagon and folded in, as well as the handle, so it compacts to 7 1/4 inches tall. It weighs 27 pounds and can hold up to 150 pounds.
He’s still looking for a taker for that one, but last month he began selling it through Pancake on Amazon. The Hideaway Pancake Flat Wagon goes for $119.95.
Unlike the Radio Flyer models, it’s blue.
“I wanted to distinguish my product from Radio Flyer, though I love them,” Shapiro said.
It’s not all about wagons. Shapiro’s other designs include a jogging stroller, yet to be marketed, that folds to within six inches.
Shapiro graduated from Granby High School in Norfolk and received a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1980. Four years later, he got his law degree from George Mason.
While studying at George Mason, he held a part-time job that would prove beneficial for his future sideline: searching patent records for a patent law firm in Arlington.
His experience in wagon design, Shapiro said, has had little carry-over to his day job except in one respect: He’s better at evaluating product flaws in injury cases.
His colleague Jim Lewis said Shapiro’s inventions share the “boundless creativity” that powers him in the courtroom.
“Eleven months ago, he won an $8.6 million award for the family of a man who died of lung cancer and smoked for 20 years,” said Lewis, a fellow partner at Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton PC.
“It was a lawsuit against the employer for exposing him to carcinogens besides those in cigarettes.”
Shapiro estimated he’s spent at least “six figures” of his money on his inventions. He said confidentiality clauses in the Radio Flyer agreement prevent him from disclosing how much he could earn from royalties.
But he doesn’t foresee a wagon-load of millions.
“I really like being an injury trial lawyer,” Shapiro said. “I told my partners, ‘I’m not quitting my day job anytime soon.'”
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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com
