MRGaudet
11-03-2006, 02:07 PM
THE most important factor in any successful invention is an attitude of 100% conviction, driven by an unshakable confidence that you are capable of breathing life into your idea, given the right circumstances. More often than not, you must come to the early realization that you MUST coordinate a team of various experts in order to flesh out the concept. The level and types of expertise that you will require will of course depend on the sophistication of the materials and fabrication technology involved in the research and development of your idea.
A basic rule of thumb is that professional, reputable engineers are a very tight-lipped bunch. Once you have earned the respect of targeted engineers in any given field ( for example, engineers associated with the National Research Council, or the provincial or state equivalent ), you will find that all correspondence will be treated with the utmost respect and confidentiality. Entering into a dialogue with professional engineers in the early stages is always a good idea because you will rapidly advance on your particular learning curve, and you can begin to create a working file of officially documented R&D progress.
I believe that one of the biggest setbacks that a lot of would-be inventor/developers suffer is that they are often too close to their idea, and lack the perspective that is needed to realistically evaluate the true potential ( or lack thereof ) of their brain-child. As well, the step-by-step process of getting the thing down on paper and then building a ‘working prototype’ ( or a sustained series of steadily progressive working prototypes! ) can be a daunting and sometimes expensive undertaking if you don’t bother to get organized at the outset by enlisting the help of local experts in the early conceptual stages. One of the big advantages of sharing your idea with people that you trust within your personal circle of friends early on is that you will save a lot of time ( and possibly money ) that will hopefully prevent you from getting discouraged. As well, you might want to listen carefully to the opinions of these people to see if your idea creates some genuine interest and excitement, or comes across as fairly lame. Always remember to poll anyone who is willing to give you honest feedback about your idea.
There are many ways to protect your Intellectual Property ( IP ) along the way. The first thing you MUST do is to create a drawing and a written description ( called an ‘abstract’ ) of your idea and get it ON PAPER. Remember, any Tom Dick or Harry can dream up an idea. But if it stays inside your skull or all you ever do is talk about it with your buddies over beers, it is fairly useless and basically a waste of time. If you are not willing to commit your idea to paper, then forget about it. Have another few beers and cook up yet another brilliant idea that you will probably never do anything further to advance. But as you know, this gets old very quickly and you will just start to bore everybody within earshot. Unless you hang out with a bunch of losers who are all talk and no action. Go hard, but don’t expect much.
Once you muster up the focus, overcome the natural tendency to procrastinate, and get serious enough to commit your great idea to paper, make sure your written abstract and diagram is clear and concise. If you lack the drafting skills needed to carry out this step there is more than likely a reputable artist in your community that will be happy to render his/her services to you. Ask the artist to sign a non-disclosure agreement before you reveal and explain your idea if you feel so inclined. My lawyer supplied me with one for me for $50.00. According to Zenon Dragan, president of the world-famous flying toy company DraganFly Innovations Inc., it all boils down to trust. Do you trust the people you are sharing your idea with while it is in its infancy? Incidentally, Zenon happily signed my non-disclosure agreement at our first meeting, and he has been absolutely instrumental along the way to developing my Skyaak invention.
Once you have documents in hand, visit a local Justice of the Peace and have your abstract and diagram notarized. Then get yourself to the post office. Send this early documentation to yourself and a few trusted friends/relatives as a REGISTERED LETTER. Do not open this notarized, registered letter once it arrives in your mailbox. Ask the other recipients to likewise refrain from opening their copies. Store your document in safe place, such as a fire-proof box or in a safety deposit box. It’s known as a ‘poor man’s patent’. This letter to yourself will be respected in any court as official documentation of your idea that legally establishes a time-line for your invention. And the price is right!
My patent attorney informed me very candidly that in my case ( with my Skyaak flying toy invention ) I would be much further ahead to invest the $12,000.00 or so dollars involved in a patent search and procurement in MARKETING the invention. This way, I would be known as the original inventor of this unique device. Any other future imitators would be seen as mere... imitators. We did a world-wide trademark search to be sure that the name was unique. I knew ahead of time that it was, because I had already registered the web-site domain as www.skyaak.com (http://www.skyaak.com) and I am continuously conducting Google searches to stay on top of it.
I was informed that a patent is only as good as your budget will permit you to protect it. If some big company gets a hold of your IP while it is on public display in the Patent Office Registry during the aprox. 18 month to two-year patent-granting process, they are basically free to make a slight change ( or not ) in the design and then go right ahead and mass manufacture it right under your nose. Good luck duking it out in court if the company has deep pockets for legal fees. You will probably lose. Typically, this kind of court battle can cost you up to a half-million dollars or more.
A basic rule of thumb is that professional, reputable engineers are a very tight-lipped bunch. Once you have earned the respect of targeted engineers in any given field ( for example, engineers associated with the National Research Council, or the provincial or state equivalent ), you will find that all correspondence will be treated with the utmost respect and confidentiality. Entering into a dialogue with professional engineers in the early stages is always a good idea because you will rapidly advance on your particular learning curve, and you can begin to create a working file of officially documented R&D progress.
I believe that one of the biggest setbacks that a lot of would-be inventor/developers suffer is that they are often too close to their idea, and lack the perspective that is needed to realistically evaluate the true potential ( or lack thereof ) of their brain-child. As well, the step-by-step process of getting the thing down on paper and then building a ‘working prototype’ ( or a sustained series of steadily progressive working prototypes! ) can be a daunting and sometimes expensive undertaking if you don’t bother to get organized at the outset by enlisting the help of local experts in the early conceptual stages. One of the big advantages of sharing your idea with people that you trust within your personal circle of friends early on is that you will save a lot of time ( and possibly money ) that will hopefully prevent you from getting discouraged. As well, you might want to listen carefully to the opinions of these people to see if your idea creates some genuine interest and excitement, or comes across as fairly lame. Always remember to poll anyone who is willing to give you honest feedback about your idea.
There are many ways to protect your Intellectual Property ( IP ) along the way. The first thing you MUST do is to create a drawing and a written description ( called an ‘abstract’ ) of your idea and get it ON PAPER. Remember, any Tom Dick or Harry can dream up an idea. But if it stays inside your skull or all you ever do is talk about it with your buddies over beers, it is fairly useless and basically a waste of time. If you are not willing to commit your idea to paper, then forget about it. Have another few beers and cook up yet another brilliant idea that you will probably never do anything further to advance. But as you know, this gets old very quickly and you will just start to bore everybody within earshot. Unless you hang out with a bunch of losers who are all talk and no action. Go hard, but don’t expect much.
Once you muster up the focus, overcome the natural tendency to procrastinate, and get serious enough to commit your great idea to paper, make sure your written abstract and diagram is clear and concise. If you lack the drafting skills needed to carry out this step there is more than likely a reputable artist in your community that will be happy to render his/her services to you. Ask the artist to sign a non-disclosure agreement before you reveal and explain your idea if you feel so inclined. My lawyer supplied me with one for me for $50.00. According to Zenon Dragan, president of the world-famous flying toy company DraganFly Innovations Inc., it all boils down to trust. Do you trust the people you are sharing your idea with while it is in its infancy? Incidentally, Zenon happily signed my non-disclosure agreement at our first meeting, and he has been absolutely instrumental along the way to developing my Skyaak invention.
Once you have documents in hand, visit a local Justice of the Peace and have your abstract and diagram notarized. Then get yourself to the post office. Send this early documentation to yourself and a few trusted friends/relatives as a REGISTERED LETTER. Do not open this notarized, registered letter once it arrives in your mailbox. Ask the other recipients to likewise refrain from opening their copies. Store your document in safe place, such as a fire-proof box or in a safety deposit box. It’s known as a ‘poor man’s patent’. This letter to yourself will be respected in any court as official documentation of your idea that legally establishes a time-line for your invention. And the price is right!
My patent attorney informed me very candidly that in my case ( with my Skyaak flying toy invention ) I would be much further ahead to invest the $12,000.00 or so dollars involved in a patent search and procurement in MARKETING the invention. This way, I would be known as the original inventor of this unique device. Any other future imitators would be seen as mere... imitators. We did a world-wide trademark search to be sure that the name was unique. I knew ahead of time that it was, because I had already registered the web-site domain as www.skyaak.com (http://www.skyaak.com) and I am continuously conducting Google searches to stay on top of it.
I was informed that a patent is only as good as your budget will permit you to protect it. If some big company gets a hold of your IP while it is on public display in the Patent Office Registry during the aprox. 18 month to two-year patent-granting process, they are basically free to make a slight change ( or not ) in the design and then go right ahead and mass manufacture it right under your nose. Good luck duking it out in court if the company has deep pockets for legal fees. You will probably lose. Typically, this kind of court battle can cost you up to a half-million dollars or more.