U.S. schools throw away roughly 70 million disposable dry erase markers annually, equating to over 1.6 million pounds of plastic waste trashed every year. Dry erase markers are not recyclable.

When I saw my Calculus II professor throw away seven markers in one class period, it started me thinking about ways to refill one instead. Later on, I needed a business idea to test in an entrepreneurship course with a few other students. The idea grew and grew, until we were winning elevator pitches and talking to potential investors!

I spent many hours thinking, tinkering, and prototyping various refilling methods. The objective was to refill one high-quality marker a hundred times as opposed to refilling a hundred markers once or twice.

With much persistence, I arrived at a simple and reliable method that would work. And shortly after, I wrote and filed for a provisional patent. When I graduated, one of the attendees at our elevator pitches hired me at his company to work full-time on the detailed development of the product. This was his investment in exchange for a slice of the company with its pending launch and success.

Over that period, the housing and style of the refill dock went through a couple iterations to accommodate various space constraints with the ink reservoir, valves, and tubes.

I then filed for the non-provisional patent with the guidance of an attorney. In the process of forming the refillable marker company (Quill-Fill, LLC), the investor who hired me desired a larger percentage of voting power in the company than I was comfortable with relinquishing, and we had to part ways. 

In July 2020, I was granted Patent No. US10730338. Development is ongoing today but at a slower pace.