Louis Foreman is founder and Chief Executive of Enventys
(www.enventys.com), an integrated product design and engineering
firm. He is also the founder of Edison Nation
(www.EdisonNation.com. Louis graduated from The University of
Illinois with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. His interest
in starting businesses and developing innovative products began
while a sophomore with his first company founded in his fraternity
room. Over the past 34 years Louis has created 10 successful startups and has been directly responsible for the creation of over 20
others. A prolific inventor, he is the inventor of 10 registered US
Patents, and his firm is responsible for the development and filing of
well over 700 more.
The recipient of numerous awards for entrepreneurial achievement, his passion for small
business extends beyond his own companies. Louis is an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship
and Innovation, at Queens University. He received the Instructor Achievement Award for his
teaching at Central Piedmont Community College and was recognized by the National Museum
of Education for his Distinguished Contributions to Education. Louis is an adjunct professor and
the Entrepreneur in Residence at The McColl School of Business and was the 2013
Distinguished Visiting Professor at Johnson & Wales University, where he continues to teach.
He also teaches IP for Entrepreneurs at Central Michigan University. He is a frequent lecturer
and radio / TV guest on the topics of small business creation and innovation and is frequently
invited by universities and national trade associations to be a featured speaker on the topic of
entrepreneurship and innovation.
In addition to being an inventor, Louis is also committed to inspiring others to be innovative.
Louis was the creator of the Emmy® Award winning PBS TV show, Everyday Edisons, and
served as the Executive Producer and lead judge. The show won 2 Emmys in 4 seasons and
appeared nationally on PBS. In 2007, Louis became the publisher of Inventors Digest, a 35-
year-old publication devoted to the topic of American Innovation. In 2009, his first book, The
Independent Inventor’s Handbook, was published by Workman Publishing. In 2015, Louis was
awarded the IP Champion Award by the US Chamber of Commerce.
Louis currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the James Dyson Foundation,
the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), New Dominion Bank, The Federal Reserve
Bank Industry Roundtable, and the Intellectual Property Owners Educational Foundation
(IPOEF). In 2013, Louis was appointed by the SBA Administrator to serve on the National
SBDC Advisory Board until the end of 2022.
In 2008, Louis was appointed by United States Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez to
serve for a three-year term on the nine-person Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) of the
United States Patent and Trademark Office. In 2011, he was appointed by Secretary Gary
Locke to serve an additional three-year term. The Committee was created by Congress in 1999
to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United
States Patent and Trademark Office on matters relating to the policies, goals, performance,
budget, and user fees of the patent operation. In 2013 he was asked to serve as Chairman of
PPAC until the end of his term in December 2014.
In 2011 Louis was called upon, multiple times, to brief the House and Senate Judiciary
Committees on legislation related to the US Patent System and its impact on independent
inventors. On September 16, 2011, Louis joined the President on-stage for the signing of the
America Invents Act into law. This bi-partisan effort represented the most comprehensive
overhaul to the US Patent System in over 60 years.