Patents / Intellectual Property
In a rare moment of enlightenment, I have actually come up with a really genuinely good idea for a reasonably small and cheaply made device that I think is sellable to a manufacturer and thus onto the general public (No, I'm not going to tell you what it is).
Has anybody had any experience with Patents etc as having been googling it looks quite daunting (and expensive)
All advice welcome !
Gary.
Doesn't have a signature anymore
what is it?
man, when you're the nail, hang in there....until the day you become the hammer
Well, I have a seventeen month old toddler and I've noticed that o........HANG ABOUT!,Originally Posted by david5
You're as cunning as a fox with two tails Mr 5
Gary.
Doesn't have a signature anymore
with a degree in cunning from oxford university
man, when you're the nail, hang in there....until the day you become the hammer
check out Mr Entrepreneur. Maybe you should go on Dragon's Den seeing as you won't tell us anythign. But seriously, what's patents?
A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention.
The procedure for granting patents, the requirements placed on the patentee and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely between countries according to national laws and international agreements. Typically, however, a patent application must include one or more claims defining the invention which must be new, inventive, and useful or industrially applicable. In many countries, certain subject areas are excluded from patents, such as business methods and mental acts. The exclusive right granted to a patentee in most countries is the right to prevent or exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing the invention.
Gary.
Doesn't have a signature anymore
I too was going to suggest Dragons Den.
Career highlight video
Team Fulinkazan "The will to win compares little with the will to prepare to win"
I would start by getting a personal record of everything. Start a diary on when you got the idea together, meetings, discussions, etc. Keep a copy up to date, but also get a copy and include as much detail of the invention as possible. Purchase a secure seal envelop (i.e. one that can not be opened without destroying it), put everything in and sealing it. Then post it to your solicitor special delivery and ask him to keep the envelop sealed and to store it securely.
This will give you a secure record of your idea and may help you if someone else copies aspects of your idea before your patent comes through.
There are lots of 'inventors' companies that will help you patent an invention or just contact the patent office for advice.
Mr chatfield is correct. Make 1000 procent sure you put it on paper and draw it out.
I at the moment do bitch work at a brand name place.
Insert whiny message
I can't believe I'm about to give you a serious answer but here goes.
Firstly step back and look at it objectively. What's the market for your product & what would it sell at per unit? What would it cost to put into production, get patent and produce?
Armed with the above you can work out a break even point, i.e. how many units you'd need to sell before you start making profit. If that number is fantastically high, or bigger than the prospective market, then patenting is not worth the effort.
Simple example.
Selling kevlar reinforced stab-proof gis for systema twats
Cost of goods sold: ₤100 per gi
Cost of patent: ₤50,000
Other one-off costs: ₤10,000
Expected selling price: ₤200 per gi
So, therefore you'd need to sell 600 gis before you break even.
Armed with that expectation, you could then assess how big the market for gucci kit in the systema world is. In UK there are probably only about 30 Systema schools so 600 gis translates to about 20 students per school. Realistic? Fuick knows I'd sooner let them stab eachother without the armoured gis, but you get my point?
Good luck with you smashing idea
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote