I have an idea!!!! Now what do I do? 1

[HemiBuell]

So I have an idea for a much needed product. The idea has been mentioned in certain technical circles on the internet recently, but I have been working on it for a while now. It is a consumer product, a tool really. It is a product you could find at your local mall, for proably $50.

There is no outstanding patent or copyright as far as I can tell.

What I have:
A working prototype!!!
I have lots of notes with dates. These notes include pretty extensive calculations.

What I don't have:
Money!!!!

Anybody have any ideas on how I can protect my idea and figure out how to make this happen.

To make this in mass production it would need injection molding and stamped parts.

Maybe there is a book out there I could read?

Has anyone out there gone through this process yet?

-Chris

 

[ctopher]

Have a couple freinds sign and date it. There are plenty of sites to look at.

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/design/

http://164.195.100.11/netahtml/search-adv.htm

good luck

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[Hydroformer]

I've heard of a "poor man's copyright", where you stuff copies of your design/notes into an envelope and send it to yourself via registered mail. Don't open it when it arrives. This atleast preserves the latest date on which the contents were in existence. This is NOT a patent but may help in case of litigation.

Ctopher's got a good point too, have a few 'trusted' friends witness the documentation.

Not sure where you are or how much clout such a ploy would have. Creative commons laws in Canada are very favourable to the creator.

*Without data, you're just another person with an opinion.*

Hydroformer

 

[gwolf]

Get it signed and dated and put in a secure neutral place like a bank box (cheap these days, I pay £20/year) and don't touch it. The bank records every time you access the vault os this is your secure proof of date. This is your backup in case of patent conflicts. Then use the web sites above to get guidance on patents.

It sounds to me as if you will be into mass production, which you don't have money for. You are therefore into some kind of partnership.

a) Patrnership with a local small-medium manufacturer.

b) With one of the big DIY chains

c) With one of the big tool manufacturers.

d) With money from a bank.

e) With a government grant from a business development agency, you would be surprised at how much money they want/need to give away each year.

f) How much money do you think you need to make 1000 of these items? I might be interested.

--------------------------------------------------------

d) is the most lucrative for you but the highest risk

a) is next most lucrative with similar but slightly smaller risk. Beware of small business people - they will try and get the idea and cut you out of the picture for at best a paltry sum.

b) and c) are lower risk because they will have formal procedures in place for your sort of thing. The only risk is negotiating a satisfactory royalty/unit. If they sell millions this may be a little academic but you would always be annoyed at yourself for not negotiating a better deal.

e) Is quite attractive in this situation because if your product is really good you get development money and advice for free, and with reasonable levels of confidentiality - note that I didn't say perfect confidentiality.

f) If your idea is any good, would $15000 and aerospace grade stress/design advice in exchange for share options be attractive? I am UK based but travel is no problem for the right thing and non-disclosure agreements can be signed in advance to protect your idea. I own a Ltd company. If you go this way I think you need a marketing partner as well, probably USA based.

Regards,

gwolf.

 

[TheTick]

If you are going to have witnesses sign disclosures, you may want to have a notary public present, as well. This shouldn't be too expensive. Some banks provide notary service for little or no cost for their customers.

 

[ctopher]

Good point Tick. My company does free notary for emplyees.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[Cockroach]

Get a lawyer, maybe a close family friend or someone you know from college, offer him a percentage of future income as a fee and have him formally file for a patent. He may want you to pay the filing fee, that is typically not overly expensive. This will give you patent protection PROVIDED your concept is not considered prior art.

Design the tool and file the prints under COPYRIGHT. This does not require a patent because prints are considered an art form, like a photograph or piece of art. It goes under the author's name for a period of his lifetime. You simply submit the works and pay the government processing fee.

Use those prints to make a prototype for testing. This will be the most expensive part. You may want to look around and get a machine shop, the smaller the better, to build some of the pieces BUT NOT THE ENTIRE ASSEMBLY. I like to farm the work across the machine shop community, that way the exact nature of details remains annonymous and virtually impossible to reverse engineer by those skilled in the art.

Now assemble and test the unit. Record your findings and keep files on all your transactions, particularly those dealings that cost you money. In a court of law, you paying the cost typically weighs in your favour since you assumed the burden, hence liability for prototype design.

Once you are completely satisfied, think there are no possible improvements nor additions to the tool, take the prototype and shop it around to major manufacturers who are in the business or similar market. Some inventors simply go to the corporate head quarters of a hardware store or commercial outlet and discuss cost-supply issues. I would recommend having a very experienced salesman do this, this is the only time sales people are of value to engineers.

My rule of thumb, what does your gut say? Feel good about making the next move? What can go wrong, worst case scenario. Remember, we are talking financial security and when it comes to money, EVERYONE is your friend. Be careful and be cautious.

And for heaven's sake, stay away from these inventor sites that offer services for your ideas. They are in business for themselves, not you!

Finally, your present place of employment. If you are an engineer, let it be known that your employer owns your ideas. This is falls under intellectual properties, which under several country jurisdictions, is your employer's property. The reason is that your employer PAYS YOU to maintain his technical welfare, you the engineer are the professional and accept a salary in exchange for work. Your work is to create, invent and keep the employer's welfare in mind.

So now you made a million bucks on your time and at home! Guess what? In Canada and particularly the United State of America, you will most definitely loose in court. And guess who is going to win? Yup, your present employer. Life sucks on the big one, but life is not about being fair. So if you see promise in your invention, quit your job the day before you make a million bucks, show about three (3) months of separation and then take your invention to market.

Hope this helps. I would be interested with any of the European colleages who may know patent laws under British Common Law or the Napoleanic Code. Same with you guys?

Kenneth J Hueston, PEng
Principal
Sturni-Hueston Engineering Inc
Edmonton, Alberta Canada

 

[Cockroach]

I forgot trade name and the trade mark representing that product. Get it protected under the industrial trade laws.

Starting your own company and calling the product that company name is a classic way of inexpensively registering the product name. In Canada, $CDN 180.00 a year to maintain the necessary business license, corporate registered name and board member filing with the government.

Kenneth J Hueston, PEng
Principal
Sturni-Hueston Engineering Inc
Edmonton, Alberta Canada

 

[weeeds]

The idea of protecting your design is OK, in theory. In reality, if you have a product for which there will be a demand, then it will be quickly copied somewhere in the world and brought to your market. There will be nothing you can do. There are vultures out there looking to swoop down on any defenceless prey. (Yes, I have issues).
Your best option is to find someone to work with, offer them a piece of the action, and get the product to the market as quickly as possible. The window of opportunity is very small.
Your greatest challenge, and where you should invest most of your time, is to find an ethical partner who will not steal your design. Unfortunately there are only eight people like that in the world (my attempt at sarcasm) and I have not found one of them yet. Beware those who start to drool as you explain your concept.
Best of luck with your effort.

 

[tomwalz]

Go to a library or book store (Border’s is really good about letting people read free) and look this up. See about a provisional patent. Whatever you submit as a patent will most likely be rejected the first time. This gives you a chance to rewrite it.

Get a good CDA (confidentiality and disclosure agreement.) Contact me and I will send you a copy of ours – no obligation. I can’t put contact info here but you can contact me through the company name and web site.

We develop and sell our own inventions. We help other people develop inventions and we license our technology for other people to use and sell.

Example: We sell a lot to sawmills. When we developed ceramic tipped saw blades we sold directly to saw mills. When people came to us about using brazed ceramics in other applications we helped them develop their inventions. We don’t know anyone at Sears so we licensed the rights for the retail market to another tool company.

All this was done with CDA’s and contracts. In this kind of a world a formal contrc is exceedingly good manners.

Yes, you are taking a risk and yes, you can still get cheated. Our policy is to hit it as fast as we can, grab big partners and get what we can before the cheap competition jumps in.

Also bring out the first version and have several improvements ready to go later when you need them. It is harder to hit a moving target.

Tom


Thomas J. Walz
Carbide Processors, Inc.

http://www.carbideprocessor.com

 

[tbuelna]

HemiBuell,

You can file a Provisional Patent with the US Patent Office. It establishes priority and provides you with a 12 month window to file for a formal patent. It only costs $200 and is very simple to do.

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/provapp.htm

Regards,
Terry

 

[TheTick]

more tidbits...

Remember that once an invention is marketed, it is too late to patent.

Don't get too greedy w.r.t. potential investors. 15% of a winner is better than 75% of a non-starter.

 

[ProEDesigner00]

Greetings

I recomend you purchase a book called "Patent it Yourself" by David Pressmen. It is a very thorough book with some slapstick humor mixed in that very nicely discribes the process. He will state that mailing yourself a sealed envelope is not something that will hold up in court. the lock box idea doesnt work either.

Get a bound note book and using his way of expressing terminology discribe why you had a need for this idea and how and who was involved in your idea process and what types of information it took to procure your idea. At the bottom of each page leave a place for yourself and two other individuals skilled in the art of your idea not related to you that you can trust to sign and date each page as they read your writings and attest to the verification as to what you have solved.

I would also recommend that you get a "disclosure Agreement" Have these individuals sign and date one of these, agreeing to the terms of keeping your idea just between yourselves. There are forms in the previous mentioned book that are very generic. I have a disclosure agreement that can be formated for you to use but you would need to consult with a lawyer in your area that it could be considered a binding document.

Later Norb.

 

[jmw]

Visit the "Starting and running an engineering business" forum, the topic of patents has arisen several times there.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com