I have an Idea for a computer peripheral (its quite an easy design & could possibly be made/copied by any DIY ethusiast). Lets say in design terms, its somthing as basic & simple as a USB Hub.
Any Idea how I can patent it on a worldwide scale? Dont want my Idea stolen & mass produced in Asia without getting anything in return.
Pay a patent attorney a good sum of money :)
Quote from: BigSoyPay a patent attorney a good sum of money :)
attorney? Im not american! Cmon.. on the Cheap!! Or can I sell my Idea to someone/somwhere?
There should be some help available from the government, ask about small business start up schemes.
Remember that patents arent cheap or quick.
Quote from: SeriousThere should be some help available from the government, ask about small business start up schemes.
Remember that patents arent cheap or quick.
I dont want to start a business.. I just want to patent my idea & then try to sell it to some 3rd party company. Quick Buck idea.
Erm.. If I patented in the UK, would that mean the product couldnt be sold in the UK without paying me a royalty fee? I would guess the Item would cost about Ã,£2 to make & prob. would sell for Ã,£20
Is protection of designs an option ?
Quote from: bearIs protection of designs an option ?
Yes. That would be exactly what I want to do. Its a simple Idea that would be useful to a lot of computer users. Not everyone, but a lot.
Quote from: EggtasticoQuote from: BigSoyPay a patent attorney a good sum of money :)
attorney? Im not american! Cmon.. on the Cheap!! Or can I sell my Idea to someone/somwhere?
Easy there - if you look into it, youll people who do the legal legwork surrounding patents in this country are called patent attorneys... :roll:
As far as I know there is no way to patent an idea through intellectual property laws. There are lots of places that claim to help you patent you idea and will take a lot of money from you for the work they claim to do but they are just scams. Think about it logically, patenting an idea to say that you had it first? Its just plain absurd.
If you want to copyright anything get designing and then building. Only then can you legally patent it and have any form of protection. Once youve got something that you can copyright declare it as such and get it registered as a copyright. Then youve got some form of legal backup.
Edit : Dont fall for that daft "mail yourself the idea" thing either. It doesnt give you any rights to whats contained in the envelope.
Quote from: Chris HAs far as I know there is no way to patent an idea through intellectual property laws. There are lots of places that claim to help you patent you idea and will take a lot of money from you for the work they claim to do but they are just scams. Think about it logically, patenting an idea to say that you had it first? Its just plain absurd.
If you want to copyright anything get designing and then building. Only then can you legally patent it and have any form of protection.
Hmmm... My biggest concern would be the Far East ripping of my idea, doing it better & cheaper than my idea :D
Look at Baybuss used to control Fan speeds inside PCs. Someone must have thought of that Idea, but wasnt in a position to market/sell it. - its that kind of thing.
Quote from: EggtasticoQuote from: Chris HAs far as I know there is no way to patent an idea through intellectual property laws. There are lots of places that claim to help you patent you idea and will take a lot of money from you for the work they claim to do but they are just scams. Think about it logically, patenting an idea to say that you had it first? Its just plain absurd.
If you want to copyright anything get designing and then building. Only then can you legally patent it and have any form of protection.
Hmmm... My biggest concern would be the Far East ripping of my idea, doing it better & cheaper than my idea :D
Look at Baybuss used to control Fan speeds inside PCs. Someone must have thought of that Idea, but wasnt in a position to market/sell it. - its that kind of thing.
If you think youve got a good idea then put in the hard work now and itll pay off in the future; get working on a prototype and work out some form of buisness plan. If you want to patent the idea then you need to work with the product and make it your baby before you even think about aproaching the patent office with it.
Good luck with it Egg, I hope you do well out of this.
Quote from: Chris HIf you think youve got a good idea then put in the hard work now and itll pay off in the future; get working on a prototype and work out some form of buisness plan. If you want to patent the idea then you need to work with the product and make it your baby before you even think about aproaching the patent office with it.
Good luck with it Egg, I hope you do well out of this.
Thanks. It sounds like to much hardwork. Im not the most motivated of people. Ill look into it though. Ill try & produce a Prototype.
A cheap and fairly reliable way to secure your idea whilst youre investigating the patent is to send yourself the designs by recorded post. DO NOT open the designs/package when you receive them but store them somewhere. Should you ever feel that someone has gone to market with *your* idea you can use the plans as proof that you had the idea on a certain date; hopefully before their eairliest proof of concept.
This method is not 100% but can help in protecting an idea that is "patent pending".
Quote from: NimrodA cheap and fairly reliable way to secure your idea whilst youre investigating the patent is to send yourself the designs by recorded post. DO NOT open the designs/package when you receive them but store them somewhere. Should you ever feel that someone has gone to market with *your* idea you can use the plans as proof that you had the idea on a certain date; hopefully before their eairliest proof of concept.
This method is not 100% but can help in protecting an idea that is "patent pending".
Yes, But that wouldnt protect me against an Asian ripoff. Thats the problem about the design. Its something simple enough to be knocked up in a few hours by an ethusiast. Its basically a Useful Mod for a Computer.
Quote from: EggtasticoQuote from: SeriousThere should be some help available from the government, ask about small business start up schemes.
Remember that patents arent cheap or quick.
I dont want to start a business.. I just want to patent my idea & then try to sell it to some 3rd party company. Quick Buck idea.
Erm.. If I patented in the UK, would that mean the product couldnt be sold in the UK without paying me a royalty fee? I would guess the Item would cost about Ã,£2 to make & prob. would sell for Ã,£20
You dont have to start a business, the whole idea is to get some advice from people who arent trying to rip you off and without coughing up dosh.
In the UK you would definitely need documentation and a prototype.
You are always going to be running up against people trying to rip off your ideas.
http://www.awapatent.com/?id=9051
if its soo simple it could be done DIY and if as you say itd be handy/people would want it then its probably already being used somewhere anyway
Quote from: EggtasticoYes, But that wouldnt protect me against an Asian ripoff. Thats the problem about the design. Its something simple enough to be knocked up in a few hours by an ethusiast. Its basically a Useful Mod for a Computer.
Sorry, my point was that this can help to secure your idea whilst youre sorting out the patent. This is not a be all and end all solution; youd still need to file for patent in all of the countries you wish to protect your idea in.
You cant patent an idea. you can only patent a design.
You would require detailed schematics, and a lot of legal paperwork for it to work.
Copyrighting, simply the act of writing it down allows you to copyright it, but it only protects works of art or literature/music.
If you managed to patent it, it would be down to you to sell licencing rights to companies, you wouldnt find them all paying you royalty fees unless you got involved and tracked down the companies who were doing it, threatened them with legal prosecution, and bartered out a deal in which you recieved a few pennies in exchange for production rights. You may find that companies may wish to combine your idea as part of another thing, and that it would be adequately far enough removed from the initial idea to be allowed under uk law.
Patents are also not enforcable over international boundries, the only way to prevent a company in hong kong or china from producing your product would be to apply for a patent in that country as well.
A lot of money... time... and effort is involved if you wish to protect your design from every threat.
So theres no sure way I could stop it being copied as its not a new invention or what not. Just an extra addon design.
Ok.. Seen those PSUs where you plug in power adapter as & when you need them? wouldnt that design be patented somhow so nobody could copy it or bring out anything similar?
Its that kind of thing im talking about. Somthing thats Handy, but not to everyone & its not a total new invention.. Infact, It wont even need a device driver, etc. - So its really open to be copied :(
An example given earlier.. remember when Baybuss was all the rage (somthing that slotted into a Drive Bay to control speed of fans). Its that kind of Idea Id want to protect. Simple Idea, but it hadnt been done.
Within Months they was being sold comercially.
It has to be a really good idea to bother with patenting, and if someone has already made one your money could be down the drain.
If you expand on a previous idea you can patent your bit of it, IBM and such companies do that every day.
patenting is f**king annoying because it costs 50k plus a year, mainly being, just because you have a patent, doesnt stop enterprising people, buying one, doing a product evaluation on it, and bashing out clones.
the only way you can physically stop someone, is winning the court case.
trust me i am an industrial design student.
Quote from: redpatenting is f**king annoying because it costs 50k plus a year, mainly being, just because you have a patent, doesnt stop enterprising people, buying one, doing a product evaluation on it, and bashing out clones.
the only way you can physically stop someone, is winning the court case.
trust me i am an industrial design student.
Hahaha. Student! You dont even live in the real word. How can you trust a student :mrgreen:
Think Ill contact Sunbeamtech & see if they want to buy my Idea :-D
LOL OK THEN DONT LISTEN TO THE PERSON DOING DESIGN, BTW CAN I HAVE A LOOK BECAUSE MY CHINEESE FRIEND WANTS A NEW WING ON HIS MANSION.
Quote from: redLOL OK THEN DONT LISTEN TO THE PERSON DOING DESIGN, BTW CAN I HAVE A LOOK BECAUSE MY CHINEESE FRIEND WANTS A NEW WING ON HIS MANSION.
10p for a look.. unless i can look at yours :mrgreen:
We can play " Cock on Ewe"
I know the woman who invented the rain canopies for pushchairs.
She didnt have a patent, called up manufacturers of pushchairs, got told it was a waste of time, then a few months later they were being sold on the street in major outlets.
If you call sunbeam tech and tell them, theyll say exactly the same.
Quote from: EggtasticoQuote from: redLOL OK THEN DONT LISTEN TO THE PERSON DOING DESIGN, BTW CAN I HAVE A LOOK BECAUSE MY CHINEESE FRIEND WANTS A NEW WING ON HIS MANSION.
10p for a look.. unless i can look at yours :mrgreen:
We can play " Cock on Ewe"
honestly mate, its only gay if you push back.
plus you are going to get ripped off if you approach a company.
I thought If I had all the designs done right & copyrighted/patented & then approached a company & the company knocks it back & brings one out anyway, then do you have a right.
TBH, F*** it. If Im not gonna make off it, Ill leave the idea on the shelf.
lol well the woman I know had a prototype, and designs sealed in an envelope. Just didnt have the money to patent it, or really develop it further.
She still got screwed.