I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night and may be of some help.
I’m being nominated to the Supreme Court one day....as I understand it...
I’m a civil engineer and would love to see your design once you’ve got the legalities nailed down.
We used to have a poster named “Patent” who was a devout Catholic and a patent attorney in the Twin Cities but he hasnt posted for a number of years. Maybe if you post him also.
I own 3 patents,freep me
For what it’s worth.
If you truly have an original idea that is patentable and as a result profitable, well over 90% of the people you talk to will not get it.
There is point in which you will need to disclose your concept and trust folks not to steal it. They don’t know what you know.
Non-disclosures etc, are worthless.
1. A patent is only good as it claims.
2. The claims are only as good as the research of other patents and how well they are written.
3. Everything else in the patent is fluff
4. Design patents are almost worth the paper they are written on
5. If it is a very good idea and you are a nobody - expect it to be stolen even with a patent. Maybe you can sue and see some money in 10 years after mortgaging your house and 401k to pay for the litigation.
6. Now if you can license your patent...
USPTO has a good introductory site for people with no idea of what goes on:
http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/inventors-entrepreneurs-resources
Good luck, I’m hoping to snag an attorney next week myself.
The patent system was never design to protect the inventor.
The recent changes have made it less favorable to inventors.
Talk to George Forman
If you are a professional engineer for 30 years you should know better., Spend $200 and sit down with a patent lawyer for an hour.
Mr. GG2 has several patents. I hate to tell you what a patent attorney costs and then there is the engineering costs and then the DVD that has to be made to make sure you are not showing too much to prospective buyers. Figure on about $250,000 and at least 2 years.
Sounds like the neatest invention since the ShamWow guy got beat up by a hooker in Miami
Go to USPTO.
Look up
‘patent ‘search’
Then do a ‘quick search’ (very similar to a google search)
You will get a list of patents in the ballpark and determine if you think your idea is different enough to proceed.
If you find nothing similar,
you can do a relatively simple and inexpensive ($65 for an individual,labeled a ‘micro-entity) ‘provisional patent .
research it. They are pretty simple to do and will cover your idea for one year while you make contact with potentially interested companies. And the PP allows you to say you have a patent pending, meaning you have a one year period, in which your idea is protected (at least in theory) from being stolen as you show it around, before you have to make a much more expensive decision to turn it into a full blown patent.
Good for you for seeking professional legal advice. It is usually worth the money. BUT, make sure you have a representation agreement with any attorney you speak to. You don’t want that guy walking off with your idea.
Depending on the nature of your invention, it may be a valid path to skip all the IP junk and start selling, make a buck and then stop when you get a cease and desist letter. This is a valid strategy that works for some things.
There is s good tutorial on uspto.gov that is about 35 minutes on how to get started. I did all the up front searches and wrote the patent myself and then took it to an attorney who rewrote it correctly. Very interesting.
My dabbling with patents have shown most are not worth the paper they are filed on. I have patents on fishing lures, a process for carbon fiber manufacturing, and a bottle filling machine. The second it is filed a patent troll will grab it and change a little bit then try to rub you out. It wasn’t worth the money, for me, to file. They didn’t protect me or my IP. Even if I were to sue it would be a pyrrhic victory as their lawyers are a lot bigger than my lawyers. The best is to make sure you are the first and the best with the name. The process is so convoluted by lawyer speak you need a lawyer. Expect $15k by the time you’re done.
My little ideas were not water treatment related so maybe it would be worth the patent. A process patent would be beneficial. Research online at the patent and trademark website. Chances are someone else may have thought about it. And duct tape your head tightly as it will explode when you start reading the nonsensical descriptions.
Some advice... (I now have a machine shop and get all kinds of people wanting prototypes for their patents) Make sure it can be manufactured.
Good luck
PS. Don’t try to patent the comb over. It’s already there. US4022227