For Manuel Martinez, the Dash Protector patent is just the beginning.

Ten-year industry veteran Manuel Martinez, owner of Best Window Tinting and Car Accessories in Miami, aims to create 10 “innovative” inventions for the window tinting industry. As of February 14, 2023, he’s one step closer to that goal.

Creativity at Work

“This means the beginning of my legacy,” Martinez says of the awarded Dash Protector patent, originally filed on August 26, 2021. “Dash protector opened the door to meeting and doing business with people in this industry. I am happy with the support my products have received. I also want to inspire others with dreams to fight for them.”

Martinez’s invention, cited as a Dashboard Cover Sheet in the granted patent, is described as a sheet that covers a dashboard when window tint is installed on a vehicle.

When window tint is installed on a front window of a vehicle, copious liquid is sprayed over the window tint, the patent states. The liquid tends to land on the dashboard or go into a channel that separates the window and the dashboard. When this happens, damage occurs to the vehicle’s dashboard.

Damage that occurs to the vehicle’s dashboard includes swelling, deterioration and even a ruined computer system. The patented invention is built to minimize these instances of damage.

Always Evolving

“My goal with the Dash Protector is to make every windshield install safe and clean,” Martinez says. “I am working to educate all the tinters that cars have changed in the last five years. Cars are more electronic and fragile than before. We as professional tinters need to upgrade and update our tools.”

Martinez still has the first sample of the product, which he tested for a year before mass production.

“It took me a while to find a manufacturer I could trust,” Martinez adds. “The first generation was made for automobiles only. Tinters started asking for a bigger dash protector. So I came up with the Xlarge [option] for trucks and vans. There have been ups and downs, and I am still working to improve them.”

Industry Advancement

Martinez’s milestone follows a similar feat by Jeff Rutherford. Rutherford’s company, NiRoLL Lighting’s Tintlight, was granted a patent on December 20, 2022. Rutherford celebrated the milestone for the invention, which the patent cites as a “lighting apparatus and method for application of window tint to automobiles.”

“Receiving this patent means I’ve passed the biggest hurdle and milestone,” Rutherford says. “Receiving this allows me to license my product to a manufacturer. Manufacturing has been harder than I thought, and building the Tintlight by hand has been a struggle. I have had a hard time keeping them in stock.”

Editor’s Note: Please contact editor Chris Collier at ccollier@glass.com if you have a patented industry invention you’d like to spotlight.