ORONO – The next meeting of the Maine Inventors Forum will be held in Orono on Oct. 20, featuring new product consultant James E. Richardson of Richardson & Associates Inc. He will speak about options for entrepreneurial inventors developing a new product.

The forum meets from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Target Technology Center, 20 Godfrey Drive. It is free and open to the public.

Richardson will outline the considerations and specific procedures that first-time inventors should use in determining the viability of an idea. He will also outline the steps necessary to develop the product, discuss some business options and comment on methods to avoid common pitfalls faced by inventors.

Richardson, an industrial designer and new-product development consultant, was previously based in Weston, Conn., before relocating to Maine.

He is currently involved in developing industrial and consumer products for major corporations and entrepreneurial start-ups, and has been awarded 19 U.S. patents for product innovations. Richardson is a past president of the Inventors Association of Connecticut.