h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have a simple invention of which i've made a crude working model
I'd like it developed into a useful commodity - without any further input from me - as it will need the input of a design engineer for the next stage.

anyone advise on a way forward ?

I haven't, but it would help if you told which country you're in so that others may give advice.
Maybe it would be helpful to have a rough idea what you're talking about, too. I could imagine that e.g. a new device to play DVDs needs to go in a different direction than, say, a car driving on saw dust - if you get my idea.

I'm a uk resident
the invention is photographic accessory related
I find it very useful even in its basic form
I don't know how to give you more information without describing the whole concept !
But, i'm sure it could enhance the lives of many

No need to give your idea/concept away. I think the area should be enough for people to be able to help you.
Btw, I replied to your post to me.

cant you patent it first so if you need any help with it you own copyright design patent and trade mark
it is expensive about £200 GBP looking at this web site i would double checked to see its a original idea first

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/patent/p-applying/p-apply.htm

having recently been granted a U.S. patent on an invention, i may be able to help.

You must apply for a patent as soon as you can get all the paperwork in order. This will give you 'patent pending' status and will afford you some immediate protection from those who would steal your hard work.

The date your application is received, read through and deemed to be pretty much complete is the date of your invention. If someone has seen your work, copied it and submitted an application before you get it together, then you will have a hard time proving otherwise.

The USPTO (patent and trademark office) are extremely helpful, either on their website with the necessary information to make a submission, or, over the phone as your invention goes through the process.

I don't know how helpful or informative the British Pat. Off. is.

Remember that all a patent ACTUALLY does is give you the right to hire an expensive attorney to try and stop someone from copying your stuff.

Patents work like door locks...they are designed to keep only HONEST people out. If someone wants to break in and copy your stuff, then not much you can really do to stop them.

The secret of success, i think, is to be FIRST TO MARKET with your device. That way you will be at least a year or two ahead of the copiers.

That means, in addition to sealing up your patent, you need to get the thing as ready as possible to go to market.
Everything from what colour it should be to packaging to writing the instruction manual.
If this means getting with a design engineer then be careful...the design engineer is just the guy who will take your ideas, re-design them just a little bit, then patent it himself.

There are several companies who will do what you need for you, and once you actually get a patent, you will be subject to the type of junk-mail that only we inventors are lucky enough to receive.
This ranges from wall-plaques with your patent number engraved on them to companies offering marketing services.
Again...BEWARE. It is a cut-throat world.

Let me know how you get on.

Perhaps we should start the hootoo inventors guild or something.

alec.

thanks for info
there is much to think about
i'm off to do some research, will post my conclusions

Good luck and please do keep us informed

An Inventors Guild. What a fabulous idea! And I'm not being sarcastic here.

The way that the patent law is written just sucks the life out of the art and science of invention. The law, like all laws, is written by lawyers to increase employment for lawyers.

I've never sold an invention but I've given away a few. It's a perfect Catch 22; you can't complete an idea without publishing, but if you publish, it's gone.

I put everythng together a few years ago and called a patent agent to employ his services. He was mercifully blunt. If you are just an inventor hoping to sell a patent, you are wasting your time. The law is written to promote INDUSTRY, not the rights of individual people. If you are ready to manufacture and can do that yourself, OK; otherwise you will only come to grief.

Someone once said "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." If only.. In the real world it's "Build a better mousetrap and you'll get a Cease and Desist order from Trapcorp International Inc. who claim full and exclusive rights to the idea of entrapment of any entity, living or dead, with particular....etc, blah blah, etc."

Think of how slowly technology advances because so many creative minds are forced to keep secret.

*shamelessly bumps thread back to page 1 *

Today alone, 6 pieces of junk mail from marketing companies, wanting me to assign them anything from 20% to 35% of any royalties that they negotiate on my behalf.

"...to transform your great idea into a popular product, it needs to be marketed, licensed and distributed."

These people will do everything for me:
3D modelling
Prototyping
Name selection
Product presentation

They all seem to claim that they are in 'strategic partnerships' with major industry players.

One of them even says "This is the LAST TIME you will hear about our interest in your patent"
"This is our last and final offer"

Some have actually read my patent, others obviously not.

My device is not the sort of thing you would buy in WalMart or Woolies anyway so I just throw the marketing stuff away...well actually it gets recycled.

alec.

*bumps thread again*

Good advice here from Ugi :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A574021

alec.

Thanks for all the info

i've followed most of the links (and their links!)and
reached the conclusion that you have to be oh so determined to see the thing through.
And ... you have to find someone to trust.


I decided to adopt a different attitude


let me know what you think

Approach a design college with the raw idea
If they think the idea has merit let it become a student project.
Let them patent it,market it etc.,use most of the profit for their college - or whatever.

The only proviso being that a percentage of the profits went into the 'get a new bus fund' for the charity I help with (say 1%).
I would have no other financial interest.

hal, I don't know how it works where you live but here in Canada, public universities are forced to raise funds by granting proprietorship of ideas that are generated in said university. Newtechcorp International doesn't just get the right to name the new building with its 'donation'. It used to be that things discovered in a public university were public property. No longer. Welcome to the new economy.

When I ask technical advice from one of my nephews in university, I have to caution him not to do any work on the school computer or talk to any prof or other student.

ah - something else I hadn't thought about
(Would their constitution allow them to make such an agreement ?)
The rules here in the UK may be different
but

as another option :-

I will now make a direct approach to the charity I mentioned to see whether they would like to have the intellectual rights
then they could to pursue the development thro' their own contacts.

-(Would their constitution allow them to make such an agreement ?)-

A constitution is a human invention and big money makes a swell spanner.

Good luck to you and the charity It's kind of you to take that course. I hope it works.

I will let you know what transpires -

I have contacted them and they are deciding who I should talk to !



I too used to be a 'cynic'

but now i'm just 'paranoid schizophrenic'

everyone says this about us !

I hope that I don't come across as a cynic. That, to me, is someone who has given up hope. I haven't done that. I just have learned that what we're up against here is the proverbial stacked deck. Every living being (which is what a social or legal system is) gets loaded up with parasites in time. An effective democratic election is like a good worming medicine. The worms don't like it but it keeps the patient from dying.

You mentioned earlier something about an Inventors Guild. This is something that I've thought about for years but I can't think of an effective way of doing it. It would be great to pick the minds of knowledgeable people (of course with some system to reward them) I'm not such an egotist that I don't realize that colaborative thinking is much more effective than individual. It's why I like HooToo so much.

just had a response from MS society -


"As a charity, the MS Society does not provide products or services
directly to people affected by MS. We do however provide an extensive
range of high quality information about, and access to, those products
and services. So, regrettably, we are not in a position to help you
further at this stage."

bit sad really



on another topic I have,regarding MS,a couple of other thoughts to do with physiotherapy and existing technology.
I could 'bounce them off you' - if you happen to know anyone with MS in canada. ?





The 'invention bit' will have to wait until I find a designer with empathy !

Alec.
- "...to transform your great idea into a popular product, it needs to be marketed, licensed and distributed."-

The thing is, even if you don't trust them, what they're saying here is still correct, you do have to do those things.

You could investigate them. Ask for specific examples of where they have "transformed great ideas..etc...etc..." Get some references. There are people who do these marketing things, it does take time and effort and maybe, depending on the work involved, 25 or 30% may be a fair price.

In any case, if you can't do those things yourself, half a loaf......

No smiley for half a loaf so to paraphrase "A slice of a real cake is better than an entire imaginary one"

In Australia we have an organisation called Technical Aid For The Disabled. They are people with expertise in engineering, invention and problem solving who volunteer to come up with cheap, practical solutions for all sorts of problems and have come up with lots of "gadgets" that have eventually been mass produced.

There may be a similar organisation where you live .... they may also be able to help with your invention,

Here's a link or 2 to start
http://www.tadnsw.org.au/index.html

http://www.tadwa.org.au/tad_around_aus.asp