Success Stories
Bigfoot Systems® has Firm Footing on the World Market

As a general contractor, Kirk Swinimer of Chester, Nova Scotia was quick to sense the potential utility of his invention but he says it is the distinctive name and trademark registration where the true rewards are found. In fact, he's hopeful that with some shrewd marketing investments, his Bigfoot Systems® brand will someday be as widely recognized as Coca-Cola® and Kleenex® — at least at lumberyards around the world.

Bigfoot Systems® is actually a footing form that looks not unlike an overturned mushroom; it has already begun to revolutionize home and deck construction from Iceland to Panama. The principal advantage of this Canadian-designed and manufactured invention is that it enables one person to do the job of two, in about one-third of the time.

Mr. Swinimer's patented recycled polyethylene plastic cones enable the professional carpenter or the do-it-yourselfer to prepare an entire form above ground before setting it in the earth. Essentially, the bottom of the form — the "Bigfoot"— is attached with wood screws to a standard construction tube and the entire footing form is then put into place as one unit. The unit is then filled with one pour of concrete, creating a solid, uniform footing from top to bottom.

Protected by three patents, an industrial design and the Bigfoot trademark, Mr. Swinimer's invention has begun to take off in markets as far afield as Japan and the United States. Through a network of distributors, it will soon also be reducing labour costs by up to 90% in Australia and New Zealand. Mr. Swinimer credits a family friend, his lawyer and an intellectual property (IP) advisor with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for guiding him through the IP and market development processes which, for him, have begun to pay handsome dividends.

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