Anybody hold a patent?

[talleymonster]

Does anybody here hold a patent for any inventions/innovations? I have a few ideas that I've been holding onto for a while now. I saw one of those commercials for the "Inventors Information Packet" today and it got me thinking about it. I wouldn't mind looking into it.

Does anybody here have any expoerience?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

No experience with patents, plenty of experience with great ideas (at least in my own little world, they're freakin' awesome!).

Anyway, I would approach anything on an infomercial with extreme caution. I doubt that those packets are very helpful, and I'm almost certain that some companies that offer "startup advice and help" are out to steal your ideas. Just be sure to do your homework, and be very careful when sharing your ideas before they're actually patented.

Best of luck, and let us know how it turns out!

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

Dont ever do a patent with these ambulance chasers. Do it right get a patent attorney that works for YOU.

 

[talleymonster]

......are out to steal your ideas.

That was kind of what I was thinking.

 

[rpucci]

My fater-in-law holds the patent for dry roasted peanuts.

 

[Mutilated1]

I do not personally hold a patent, but my name is on many patents and patent applications. I used to work for Hewlett Packard and part of my job was to invent things and apply for patents, we were expected to apply for patents every month.

But I'm not really all that familiar with the legal part of applying for patents, all I did was fill out the disclosures and such that the legal department people told me to, and they did the rest.

As I understand it though, and I could be wrong - I'm not speaking from direct experience here, its not that difficult to get a patent. Having the patent stand if its challenged or if you try and enforce it is the hard part, actually getting the patent in the first place amounts to applying and paying the fee.

 

[TexLaw]

Getting a patent can be difficult if you want to get something as broad as possible. If you want something very narrow, it can go pretty easily.

Definately do not go with those jokers on TV. If they do anything for you, they'll get a design patent, as opposed to a utility patent. Design patents protect only ornamental (i.e., as opposed to useful) features, where utility patents protect useful inventions.


TL

 

[Yooper]

My best friend has a few patents on some cool items. I actually named one of the products! The Jerry Strap is not yet in production, though. It's a super clever tie down product that he designed when we were trying to figure out a way to strap his ultralight plane onto a flat bed. He has some other neat stuff, too. The drawings and prototypes are really fun to look at.

He told me that it costs him about $5,000 for each patent due to the lawyers and filing costs. If you are really interested, I'll be seeing him tonight and get some more info for you. He's cooking me dinner at his house and I'll try to remember to ask him more specifically what to do.

 

[beergears]

Isn't there a "discovery" process of "prior art" that need to be done, at or before application time?

When it comes to patent-style graphics I have done this kind of work (line art) professionally. Somewhat simple, really, but there are some very strict rules to follow.

 

[Evan!]

I hold some patent...of the black variety.

So, hey, Talley, if you went on the "American Inventor" show, I'd watch. I laughed myself to tears every time some chump came on there who'd spent his life savings on some dumb idea, and lost his wife and kids and was living out of his car, all because he was sure he had the greatest idea in the world...but it was actually horrible and the judges laughed at him and told him to GTFO. Awe. Some. Not saying you'll necessarily end up living out of the back of your car or anything...

 

[Cheesefood]

I've looked into those TV things. I'll try to find the link for a great article. Basically, they look at your idea and say "Yes, you should patent it. Now you'll need to go through ALL THAT HARD WORK of finding a lawyer, or just use ours." And then the bills start rolling in. What they'll do is to keep pushing you to invest more and more into the product until you're about broke. At that point they'll determine if your product is successful. If so, they may just out-right steal it from you or pay you a paltry sum knowing that you're broke from design fees, searches, lawyers fees, proto-type creation, etc.

If you have a good idea, first look into the differences between Patented and Patent Pending and then:

1. Talk to a lawyer about setting yourself up as either an LLC or an Inc.
2. Create a business-plan for how you'd like to sell the product. Clearly define your products market, how you intend to market the product, how you intend to run the business of selling and marketing the product, who will make it, and how many will you sell. Make sure, more than anything else, that you have accurate and plausible financial statements included.
3. Prepare three speeches: a 30 minute long-form, a 10-minute pitch, and a 1 minute "elevator pitch".
4. Pitch to everyone you know. Try to get money from family and friends first. Family and friends won't try to take your business like outside funding might try to do.
5. Find investor workshops, venture capitalist forums, etc. Get in front of your audience and explain to them WHY they want to invest: because they'll get a return on investment of xx% (and notice I used 2 x's. One x isn't going to sell your product). Make sure to give them enough info to make a financial decision without giving away the secret sauce. Understand the risk associated with using outside funding.

Getting a patent is expensive and difficult. You can easily blow through $50k before finding out someone already patented your product. Then once you have the patent, you need to try to make money off of it and enforce that no one else is using it illegally. In otherwords: you have a patent on a gadget, but how will you know if I'm building that gadget off of your design and just not telling you? As long as I don't try to patent it there's no way to stop me.

Make sure you're ready. A patent isn't just a long-number, it's a life-changing business decision. Once you get one, you're life is now devoted towards selling it.

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

I developed a marginally important biological process, and went through the tech transfer office here at my university, unfortunately the legal system just changed and now allows biotech/pharmaceutical companies to use patented material without paying licensing fees if it directly benefits getting a drug to/through clinical trials, so the lawyers decided it wasn't worth pursuing....it may get me a job at the company that was most interested in the technology though...so not too bad.

 

[Germey]

I am first name on a patent for a former company. I didn't get dick for it, but it was a fun process to go through.
Go to the patent office's web site. There is a ton of info there, and you can look up patents and patent pending info by keyword. You might find for free that there is an existing patent, but this will not qualify as a Prior Art Discovery in any way.
If you look at some of the applications, you get a feel for the range of applications out there. Some have 50 pages of legal boilerplate trying to claim that their shoe tying technique entitles them to protection (royalties) for anything any company does, while others are one paragraph with scanned image of the proverbial cocktail napkin.
Also fun is this site. (caution, the current front-page featured patents are only semi-worksafe...but too funny to miss)

 

[david_42]

When my partner and I were working on her Personal inventory management system patent, the Nolo book "Patent It Yourself" by David Pressman was most useful. The commercial operations are ripoffs: 100%. (Patent attorneys are most useful when you are dealing with infringement) You can search the US patent database yourself and see exactly what the prior art is before starting the process.

It took 4 1/2 years and 4-5 challenges to obtain the patent and we are in year 3 of creating a product. Once the Patent Office agrees you have something, it cost about $1500 to register the patent. Used to be cheap, but there was so much trash in the system, the price got jacked up to approximate the average cost.

 

[Glibbidy]

My Dad has patents in the US and internationally. Here's one for Lime sludge treatment process, his AERATION CHAMBER WITH FLUID CONVECTION BLENDER, and the FLOW GATE FOR A FLUIDIZING GRAVITY CONVEYOR.

 

[Dude]

So the old "postmarked in a sealed envelope" won't suffice for a patent, eh?

I've been thinking about getting a patent for an idea based off of a current consumer product (kind of a tie-in along the same idea, but WAY better, taking it a giant step further), but the financial aspect of that holds me back. After reading the info you guys posted, I wanna go kick my dog. Thanks.

 

[Brewsmith]

Dude, that's the poor-man's patent. You can do that for copyright © too. When I was in a band we made a 4 song demo at a real studio. We used the mail trick on that one.

It won't work as an actual patent document, but it does give evidence as far as a date in time that could possible be used in court to determine who had the idea first - Unless they find you guilty of mail fraud. Stuff for layers to fight over.

 

[kinison_fan]

...I'll be seeing him tonight and get some more info for you. He's cooking me dinner at his house and I'll try to remember to ask him more specifically what to do...

Anyone else get this mental picture...

She's dressed like her avatar.
He's dressed like "the gimp" in Pulp Fiction, or a diaper, or ...
"Would my master like more salt?...Shall I lick your heels while I peel these onions?...Is my mistress pleased?"

, sorry Yooper I couldn't resist. (I figured someone like Cheesefood or the_bird would beat me to in pointing it out though).

 

[Yooper]

Anyone else get this mental picture...

She's dressed like her avatar.
He's dressed like "the gimp" in Pulp Fiction, or a diaper, or ...
"Would my master like more salt?...Shall I lick your heels while I peel these onions?...Is my mistress pleased?"

, sorry Yooper I couldn't resist. (I figured someone like Cheesefood or the_bird would beat me to in pointing it out though).

Well, dinner last night was not exactly like that, but I definitely like your version better! I brought the homemade wine, and he had fires in all of the fireplaces and the whole house decorated beautifully for Christmas.

He did say to definitely stay away from those packages from "US Inventor" or something like that. He did that first time and he sunk alot of money into it before he realized what was going on. I was looking at one last night, and he filed it with the US Patents office in June 2003, and it was actually "finished" in late 2005. So it's a slow process, but worth doing if you really want to. He has had manufacturers consider his products, but never sold it yet to go into production.

He's got three different patents, all totally different. He said he'll give me more info if you want- just let me know. I'm staying with him another day or so.

 

[CodeRage]

My understanding is a patent is only as good as your ability to finance it's defense. I dont bother with them personally.