Don't know anything about it but I would atleast get your idea onto paper in writing and with illustrations.

 

I would check with the patent office first ....................just in case someone else has not thought of it first ..............then ask about a patent for your idea.....that way if someone else does try and nick your idea , at least your covered.............you never know someone mite copy it, and then you can sue for patent/design right ...............as long as you have the patent/design rights for that item....................good luck m8.


look here .................http://www.patent.gov.uk/patent/

 

Hi all,

It would have to be tried and tested by a good number of people.

Make a few drawings etc. Post them to yourself, Guaranteed Delivery, keep the package sealed, and then ask a few friends to try it out. That way you have all the designs in a dated sealed package that is your proof of invention.

Cheers

Drew

 

Initial patents cost over £1,000 plus £600 per year for renewal and that just covers the UK.

Once you have tested and proofed your idea, rather than go down the self-patent/manufacturing route, you may be better off selling ti to one of the established suppliers, such as Gemini or Breakaway. If you can couple that with some form of licensing arrangement, so much the better.

 

the most important thing is to tell or show no-one apart from the patent office. As soon as you`ve shown it to others or discussed it , you`ve lost it !




www.kentcharterfishing.com

 

Jesus!!! Its a wonder anyone bothers eh?

 

cheers lads thats a good start, the thing is i could get it drawn up but i doubt if i could get it made i could make a model but not a the actual size as the thing is quite small . i know it will work on the beach as it is idiot proof , very easy to use it will be like second nature use once you have it. its quite hard to sort anything out at the moment as i'm in sudan working at the moment but i will be back in the uk before crimbo. i'll try to email the patent office to see what they say. thanks again for all your help.

 

At the risk of making a muppet of myself under the category 'stating the bleeding obvious' have you had a look at the Patent Office web site? Lots of useful info there:

http://www.patent.gov.uk

 

Its important to get a patent application in as soon as you can. It takes a long time to get a patent issued and you will initially be in a state of 'patent applied for'. Obviously, if your application date preceeds any other applications for a similar or identical product then you are protected.
The patent process can also tell you if your ideas clash with any existing patents.
You can also modify the design during the application stage.

Hope this helps,

p.s. If you tell me all about your idea then I can handle all the patent side of things for you ;-)


Mack

 

The VERY first thing that you should do is go to an intellectual property rights company and get it registered....then go to the patents office!

If anyone figures out what your planning do produce, or if you have told someone who then gets to register the property rights first, then even if you produce a model and go for a patent, it is legally their idea!!

http://www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/
For more info take a look at this website!!

Hope that this helps, and look forward to seeing your idea in the shops soon!

Cheers,

Frags.

 

As Codhead says, filing a patent is very expensive, especially for something, which will likely sell for a low price. And then you have to file the patent in other parts of the world if you are worried that they will copy your idea - more costs.

The cheapest and first thing you should do is file a 'Record of Invention' with the Patent Office. This stops anyone else from taking out a Patent on your idea, without your permission and can prevent a patent being taken out by another and used to stop you using your original idea. More applicable to big engineering or process technology development..

Even if you do file a Patent, a recent angling magazine article described Tony Caton of Gemini's experience with other people copying his ideas, even when he had a patent on them. It simply is not worth going down the legal route if the selling price of the item is small. Work out how many of said items you need to sell before you can pay the liars, sorry lawyers fees for the patent dispute!

Steinbeisser

 

I would question if a patent is worth the expense these days. A lot of manufacturers sit on the shelf until somethng comes out, then they wait to see if it sells. If it does they copy it with subtle mods and start selling. You can only claim for lost sales and if the company copying your idea is based offshore you are into mega money international litigation. On a small item it may not be financially viable to try to protect your idea, ask Geminii or Breakaway they face this problem daily.

Take Sony as an example, they spend a fortune on R&D and bring out some inovative products which are fully protected by international patents. A well known company buys the Sony product, dissects it and produces its own at half the price, also minimal manufacturing cost, minimal R&D costs, and poor quality, but it will sell. As long as it is slightly different there is nothing Sony can do.

I thnk you would be far better getting the thing manufactured and in the shops especially if is it is smallish item with a relatively low net profit, just accept the fact that if it takes off it will be copied.

 

see if you have a pending patent ,and you go forward with production of your product before the patent is granted ,will you still be covered if someone steals your idea because you had your patent in first .

because i to also have a great idea that i am pretty sure no one has thought of but the whole waiting a few years before the patent is granted is putting me off.


Mark

 

Why on earth bother with the wait and expense to register . unless you can rapidly get a world wide distribution your invention will be looked at and adjusted here and there so that you don't stand a snowball in hells chance of doing anything about it. then of course just how much would it cost you to implement a world wide policing of your patent ... the Patents office will not enforce it ..that is up to you .

Better to find a friendly China-man / Indian with access to the machinery and low cost and get as big an order made as you can possibly afford ...get them to make it and export it to you in the UK then use the eBay commercial bulk selling area or similar set up for wholesale selling and off load your stuff in bulk asap ,, when you get cash in for it plough it back once of twice more ..the market will be flooded but you will have had three of four bites of the cherry pie.

Warning

Large ( tackle ) companies are now asking for others to tender to supply a set quantity of goods ... your markets may disapear over night.

Another thing .. do not be 100% sure that what you have is unique to you . Several times I designed kit and had prototypes made only to find a few weeks later that an almost identical idea had been marketed for a few months.

In my case one of the products was a terminal tackle related device ... My Chinese contact hadn't had it for more than 24 hrs when he emailed me with a catalogue of terminal tackle and told me that a similar product on a given page had been made by his company for over 6 years .

One of my designed products I sent to China for possible production for me had a turn clockwise , theirs was with a turn anti clock wise , clips I designed were very similar , mine bent at a stated 47 degrees theirs at 42 degrees . I purchased thirty thousand of theirs at several for a penny and did wholesale at 6p each

The life of viable of products is short , very short , the simpler they are to make and adapt makes these things have an even shorter "NEW " on the market impact.

Why waste literally hundreds of thousands of pounds when you can invest less make a good return then move on to better things. the days of hanging on to patent rights is only for the very very big companies and even then there are many countries where they cannot enforce patent rights.


If any one wants a Chinese connection or an Indian one you may like to PM me and see what I have and see if it can help you .

Regards David

 

Well i am thinking very big , once i have done a bit more research to make sure my idea is unique ,i will make a few prototypes to start the testing faze , when i am happy that my idea works to my specifications i will look for backing to produce my idea ,wether that be by starting my own business or selling my idea on for a share of the profits i am not sure yet .

There's plenty of work still to do so i better get cracking on .


Mark

 

Mark, if you struggle with drawings let me know,I use a CAD system to design / engineer cars.I can knock you up a 3d model or drawing if you need.The 3D model may be a problem on your PC but I can convert a basic 2D drawing into a paper copy and jpeg etc.The 3d model can be shown also as a jpeg etc.

 

Initial patents cost over £1,000 plus £600 per year for renewal and that just covers the UK.

Once you have tested and proofed your idea, rather than go down the self-patent/manufacturing route, you may be better off selling ti to one of the established suppliers, such as Gemini or Breakaway. If you can couple that with some form of licensing arrangement, so much the better.

Beware of sending your ideas to any big companies such as the above . I know somebody who invented probably the biggest selling device at the moment for teminal rigs and sent his idea to a big company who promptly said the idea wouldnt work and had been thought of before then within 18 months were marketing them by the million without a penny of recognition to my mate!!!

 

Initial patents cost over £1,000 plus £600 per year for renewal and that just covers the UK.

Once you have tested and proofed your idea, rather than go down the self-patent/manufacturing route, you may be better off selling ti to one of the established suppliers, such as Gemini or Breakaway. If you can couple that with some form of licensing arrangement, so much the better.

a good friend of mine(he used to wire my chops up) came up with a regulator/rectifier unit that he could adjust to fit ANY motorcycle he sold the idea to LUCAS for a paltry sum,and gues what!! the unit has never hit the market,A few of you might now him,he was the chap who built and programed the computer system and user programs for the ALTERNATIVE POWER CENTRE in north wales, SO IS IT WORTH selling your patent/idea,

 

A salutory true story, most people think that Alexander Grahame Bell invented the Telephone, in fact he worked for the patents office. One day he saw an application for a patent from a Italian gentleman who had invented a telephone system. Bell promptly stole it and patented it in his own name, sadly the Italian guy died before he could get him in court.
This is a true story.
MORAL is TRUST NO ONE!!!!!!:g:

 

if you've told, shown or sold it, you can't patent it, a patent has to be lodged prior to anyone seeing it, trust me, i know,

however, you can copywrite the design, the name, etc, it's easier to breach copywrite than a patent, but it's better than not having it,

 

if you've told, shown or sold it, you can't patent it, a patent has to be lodged prior to anyone seeing it, trust me, i know,

however, you can copywrite the design, the name, etc, it's easier to breach copywrite than a patent, but it's better than not having it,

Certainly if the 'invention' has been published in a (trade) magazine, etc. then it becomes 'prior art' and cannot be patented. Not sure that this applies if you have shown one or two people - not widely publicised.

Steinbeisser

 

There is one person on this site who i can gaurentee would tell you to try to produce it yourself
you at least need to try to patent it before you go to any company because they will be ruthless!

You also need to test it yourself for a fair while to make sure you pick up on any thing you may have over looked.

I would definately get it drawn properly, if you know anyone who uses CAD ask them.
Make some prototypes of different sizes and materials if you can.

Unfortunately i am in the same possition as you, i know i am on a winner but am really unsure as to how to go about things to make sure i do not get stuffed.
Having said that the engine just went pop on my vehicle so i may well have to bite the bullet and try to sell it. :schmoll:

Ive been using cad for about 16 years if its of any use.

 

Hi all,

It would have to be tried and tested by a good number of people.

Make a few drawings etc. Post them to yourself, Guaranteed Delivery, keep the package sealed, and then ask a few friends to try it out. That way you have all the designs in a dated sealed package that is your proof of invention.

Cheers

Drew

sound advice about the post bit,i once sent an idea (drawings etc) around various tackle manufacturers (carp) none were interested,then over ten years later one of them starts selling this multi-task gizmo....the exact item i sent them that they were'nt interested in.
no room for nice-ness in big buisness

 

sound advice about the post bit,i once sent an idea (drawings etc) around various tackle manufacturers (carp) none were interested,then over ten years later one of them starts selling this multi-task gizmo....the exact item i sent them that they were'nt interested in.
no room for nice-ness in big buisness

I concur JTK , I even had letters of non disclosure for some of my ideas ...

Ye Gods ...... how their solicitors must have laughed knowing I hadn't the £60 K or more to get them through high court.

 

Whatever it is Legend, i hope it goes a bomb, i,ll buy one.:clap3: