Hi Folks; OT: I have an idea for a Medical Device Invention. --

[Limitool]

That's right.... $10,000 - $12,000 for starts.... (minimum). It all depends on how strict you'd like to secure the patent and it's variations. Not to mentions verbiage of copyright labels for it.

Barker... I wish you the best and really hope you can make this a monetary money maker.... Brad

 

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[Limitool]

http://www.tinaja.com/glib/casagpat.pdf

Very good article Barker. I truly hope you can see the reality of making some money off your idea. But it will be tough.

I personally went for the "Gold".... and got taken badly! When I read the article (attached link) it brought back some bad memories for me. When GM's upper engineering management bought into our methodology the "light came on for them". I went through hell traveling around the country assessing each assembly plant for compliance. I rendered millions of dollars of previous engineering investments useless and not everybody was happy about it at all. But nobody questioned who was right which was why I was put in charge of it per North American Operations. It wasn't so much about what I was saying.... but who was saying it. The patent was pending during this time. I was on the inside of a major corporation and had to work for years before they paid attention. I can't even imagine how hard it would be to be on the outside looking in...? When the patent was granted and I approached GM Corporate their legal department more or less told me to take a hike.... I did! And they didn't like that either....!!!

Now maybe you have a great plan or approach that hasn't been tried and I hope you do buddy. But you'll have to dig deep because NOBODY is going to give you anything and probably steal from you first.

 

[Limitool]

Part of an article (link in #23 post)

Fact – Big industry does NOT buy ideas or patents. Change of any kind is anathema to any large Fortune 500 corporation. The only reason a new or improved product is ever released is in response to the clear threat of losing market share. Even then (as was obviously the case with minicomputer manufacturers), a larger corporation may choose to drop the ball completely, rather than adapting to any sorely needed change. Consistently, it is all those garage startups and other smaller companies that introduce innovation and change to the marketplace. Only if the changes are overwhelmingly superior does big business pay attention.

Typical larger corporations have a policy of flat out rejecting any outside invention submission. The reason for this is simple: Several millions of dollars of in-house ongoing research and development could be lost should some outside epsilon minus and his attorney scream "You stole my idea!" The NIH (Not Invented Here) syndrome is alive and well in most larger firms. It looks bad when the R&D staff gets
blown out of the water by some kid in a garage somewhere. So even if you have an absolutely outstanding new idea with rock solid patents behind it, most of industry simply could not care less.

Fact – Nobody voluntarily pays any patent royalties. Nearly any company would much prefer to give their legal department $100,000 to bust your patent before they would ever stoop to paying you $10,000 in royalties. Outside patents are something to be ignored, avoided, worked around, or outright busted in court. But never to be honored.

 

[hvacker]

My Father told me Edison was nothing but a thief. Seems the idea of stealing ideas has been around awhile.

I worked with a guy that invented the screen you put over a fry pan to keep the spatters down while cooking.
Not a world shaking idea but still an idea. His advice was to forget the patent process and just manufacture & market your
idea how ever you can. If it's any good someone will probably steel it and if the idea is already patented you
will hear from them with a cease and desist order.

About the only avenue open for marketing any more because of costs are those adds on TV where it's said "Wait there's more"
"Call now and get another for free!" (just pay shipping. )
I know they can be funny but in terms of cost per listener I would think it might be the cheapest merchandising out there.

I heard Obama say he was going to streamline the patent process to allow the inventors in our country to be able once
again see their ideas flourish. I hope so.

 

[BARKER]

Hi guys; Thanks for the input. I like it. In this case I plan to build it, Patent it and any name it could be called. I plan to open my own factory to produce this item and Market it myself. Screw the Big Companies. As I've said before, I'm pretty street savvy. They mess with me I "WILL" go after them and I'll do it in ANY manner I have to. Can't you just see my Halo Glowing now. !!! Keep it coming foljs. I appreciate it. PEACE:RONB

 

[Limitool]

My Father told me Edison was nothing but a thief. Seems the idea of stealing ideas has been around awhile.

I worked with a guy that invented the screen you put over a fry pan to keep the spatters down while cooking.
Not a world shaking idea but still an idea. His advice was to forget the patent process and just manufacture & market your
idea how ever you can. If it's any good someone will probably steel it and if the idea is already patented you
will hear from them with a cease and desist order.

About the only avenue open for marketing any more because of costs are those adds on TV where it's said "Wait there's more"
"Call now and get another for free!" (just pay shipping. )
I know they can be funny but in terms of cost per listener I would think it might be the cheapest merchandising out there.

I heard Obama say he was going to streamline the patent process to allow the inventors in our country to be able once
again see their ideas flourish. I hope so.

So...? What would change if it was "streamlined"? It doesn't take hardly any time to get a patent... just a lot of money. That's the easy part. Idea's don't flourish because "you" own a patent... FAR FROM IT! Does anybody believe those folks on "TV" own a patent on the product their pushing...?

 

[kcm]

Also, let's please keep in mind that most corporations have certain rules for its employees - rules that state that any ideas that an employee comes up with belongs to the corporation. I remember the last such statement I saw on the subject, many years ago, and yes, it was that broad-reaching. Didn't matter if you did it on your own time with your own money and it had nothing to do with the entire industry that the corporation dealt with. Why? Because many folks, when pressed my that corporation, would just buckle and give in. If you did it on your own time with you own money and it's 100% unrelated with the corporation, then it would be easy to get them to relinquish any stated claim. However, they protect their interests by assuming full ownership of any ideas. And yes, if you come up with something that would somehow compete with them or is in any way related to their business, and then go ahead and patent it without their OK, they will likely come after you with company lawyers. It doesn't cost them anything usually, as lawyers are always on the payroll anyhow.

So Brad, when you came up with that idea, GM assumed ownership, and I BET there is a little piece of paper somewhere with a lot of really fine print on it that states this, and it might just be that you signed that statement as having been read and agreed to. Obviously I can't know this - just guessing. And the only reason they would have wanted you to stay on would have been so that you would still fall under that blanket policy of doing business. As someone else said before, lawyers have truly screwed things up in this world. With most things in life, it's a few rotten apples that spoils the barrel. With lawyers, it s so many rotten apples that there's nothing left to choose from, so damned if you do and damned if you don't. Courts are set up so as to need lawyers - people who "specialize" in twisting things around and turning the truth into anything but!! It's a rigged system, in an unfair world, and nobody ever said life was fair. ...Took me a long time and a lot of getting knocked down to finally learn that. Now, I deal with enough pain in my own daily life. I don't need the additional pain caused by others.

 

[BARKER]

Hi guys; kcm, I am unemployed Disabled so I don't have to worry about the BIG Companies that way. I don't work for them. I plan to design, build, CopyRight. Patent, Produce my own idea & Market it. That process cuts out the middle man. I have 2 Uncles that are Corporate Lawyers and my Aunt has DEEEEEPPP Pockets ok. I am already in school for AutoCAD. Once I Graduate I will have my own License to Render my idea. In the meantime I will get it CopyRighted. By that time I will have a full working Prototype of my idea. Then I will Patent it. Then open my shop to produce the idea. This way I will already be Marketing my idea at full speed so if any Thief tries to steal it I will just sue them for every nickel they got. Bank on it.!!! I realize this will take a while to accomplish. In the meantime there are only 2 people in the whole World who know what my idea is and she ain't talking.!!! In the meantime I will just keep my mouth shut. This way by the time my Product actually hits the Market it will be too late for others to steal it. I like that. I'd LOVE to sue a BIG Company for sure. As the old saying goes, "Feed me Seymour, Feed me." !!!
Anyways, What say ye Folks ?? PEACE:RONB

 

[Anduril]

I don't know which Forum to put this under so I put it here. If the Mods want to move it Please do. Just let me know ok. Thanks.

Do any of you know who I can talk to about getting this device Created and Marketed ?? If so please contact me asap here or PM me ok. Thanks in advance for your input. I await. PEACE:RONB

I am late to the thread, but I can give you some free advice.
Not to rain on your parade -- and remember the appropriate discount for any "info" you get online.
Feel free to PM me.

Background: I have (4) US Utility Patents. Two of them did nicely (assigned to 3rd party), the other two were commercial duds (good inventions, just overrun by a newer technology).

Advice:
#1 - NEVER "invent" anything unless you have a Buyer. The Buyer could be you, if you intend to go into production yourself -- but then be aware of how difficult it is to successfully invent, manufacture, test, market AND sell anything. That's a lot of hats to wear!

#2 - Read advice #1 again. "Never" means never!

#3 - Patents only give you AFFIRMATIVE RIGHTS to chase others who copy your idea. It does not "prevent" anyone from doing anything!
By that, I mean that unless you have deep pockets (and a lot of spare time) to chase folks who infringe your patent, what good is your patent?

#4 - The primary reason for a patent search is to KNOW what you have actually invented! This seems counter-intuitive.
By researching ALL prior art (not just patents), you'll be able to get the broadest protection in your claims.
If you invent something so narrowly defined, it's easy for folks to bypass your patent with only minor modifications to the item. (Thus, worthless to you commercially.)

#5 - It takes time and money to get a patent -- even if you do most (or all) of the work yourself.
Mine took roughly 4 years on average to grant, and all but one had a significant "back-and-forth" with the examiner.
The patent process looks intimidating, but it's really not that bad once you get past the arcane process and exacting language that seems to be unique to the USPTO.

#6 - Expect a Section-103 objection (i.e., it's too obvious of an invention) from the USPTO, no matter what you invent.
You may also get a Section-102 objection (i.e., already been invented), and you might even get some 112 objections (i.e., technicalities with the application)
Note: Objections are not Rejections.
I fully believe the 103 objections are AUTOMATIC - the USPTO is simply trying to reduce their workload - they get a lot of B/S patent apps!
Anyway, you'll have to overcome these objections before they turn into rejections. The USPTO works on a stopwatch. Don't miss deadlines.

#7 - Saving this for last (even though I have much, much more to say about the patent process):
Think realy hard about if/how you want to profit from this. If your best avenue is to assign the patent rights to someone else (a manufacturer already established in the field?), know that you can do that without a patent being granted. Just file an application that is highly likely to be granted and assign the application. You can even do this with a Provisional Application, but a provisional will never turn into a patent unless a non-provisional is filed within the time alloted - and the non-provision cannot deviate from what was disclosed in the provisional. OR - you can forego the patent process altogether and just rely on non-disclosure agreements when you shop the idea around to potential buyers. Let them deal with the USPTO, if that's their decision. Also, a product can be successful without being patented! Many people forget that.

Don't mean to complicate it with #7, but sometimes your best bet is to sell the IDEA, not the patent.
Just file the provisional making SURE you don't do something stupid that affects the ability to patent it with a non-provisional later on (which your Buyer will file).

Oh, and definitely re-read #1 above.
I simply cannot stress enough how important it is to have a game plan.
Boatloads of "good ideas" never make a dime. And be wary of service companies offering to "help". Much of what they offer you really can do yourself.

Best of luck!

 

[Anduril]

Hi guys; kcm, I am unemployed Disabled so I don't have to worry about the BIG Companies that way. I don't work for them. I plan to design, build, CopyRight. Patent, Produce my own idea & Market it. That process cuts out the middle man. I have 2 Uncles that are Corporate Lawyers and my Aunt has DEEEEEPPP Pockets ok. I am already in school for AutoCAD. Once I Graduate I will have my own License to Render my idea. In the meantime I will get it CopyRighted. By that time I will have a full working Prototype of my idea. Then I will Patent it. Then open my shop to produce the idea. This way I will already be Marketing my idea at full speed so if any Thief tries to steal it I will just sue them for every nickel they got. Bank on it.!!! I realize this will take a while to accomplish. In the meantime there are only 2 people in the whole World who know what my idea is and she ain't talking.!!! In the meantime I will just keep my mouth shut. This way by the time my Product actually hits the Market it will be too late for others to steal it. I like that. I'd LOVE to sue a BIG Company for sure. As the old saying goes, "Feed me Seymour, Feed me." !!!
Anyways, What say ye Folks ?? PEACE:RONB

Just a quick FYI: Patents and copyrights are different.
You can not copyright an invention, and you can not patent a document (book, recording, motion picture movie, etc..)

Even where the lines are sometimes blured - for example: Software that is integral to an invention.
You can patent the invention, but copyright the source code.

You can not "patent" the source code.

 

[kcm]

Think I need to take a break for a while. I read this line 3 times before I got to the next line. Talk about sudden mass confusion!!

with a Provisional Application, but a provisional will never turn into a patent unless a non-provisional is filed within the time alloted - and the non-provision cannot deviate

 

[hvacker]

Yes there is a difference between a Patent a Copy write, and a Trademark.

I know when someone has the "GREAT" idea, like writing the great American novel
they feel they are going to win.
There was a segment once about a guy that had this idea about toothpaste.
This was when toothpaste came in lead tubes. He found it difficult to totally
empty the tube with his thumb so he thought a key would do the job. Like what was on
sardine cans.
He spent all he had, got a patent but by the time he got there the industry had switched to
plastic tubes that didn't need help emptying the tube.
Just saying there are road blocks everywhere.

Barker, your statements about taking on anyone that try's to mess with your idea
shows you really have no idea who your messing with. I also don't want to rain on your
parade but your enemies are Legion.

What anduril said was good consul.

But I also know your probably not about to quit. Let us know win or loose because we need to learn from your
experience.

 

[BARKER]

Hi Andural; Thanks for the info. I appreciate your HONESTY. I do have a viable plan of action. I do have Contacts available to me with DEEEEEPPPPP Pockets. I do have 2 Lawyers in my Family. I plan to make and Market it myself 100%. No Middle Man. Right now only 2 people know my idea & she ain't talking.!!! Please keep the advice coming. I think I will send some PM's your way along with others here ok. Thanks so much. PEACE:RONB