Inventor Help Website.

Found a website that offers a lot of great information for inventors. InventorEd.org http://www.inventored.org/ There is a page that details fraud, invention promoton scams and such. Great warning information for inventors. Detailed information about the Google advertiser from my last post. http://thislittleideawenttomarket.blogspot.com/2011/01/who-do-you-trust.html

Who do you trust?

Since my last post I spent a couple of hours reviewing my notes and reading about the patent fees on the US Patent Office website. http://www.uspto.gov/
The process of getting a patent is not only daunting but expensive too. The steps that have to be followed, the people that need to get involved (lawyer, agent, etc.) as well as the fee structure (application fee, issuance fee, and maintenance fees); no wonder there are so many companies out there to make a quick buck off of unsuspecting people.
Who do you trust?
In my gmail account home page I had an advertisement for a Patent Lawyer/agent that was placed there by Google. Placed there by the Google Machine (crawlers, algorithms, see earlier post http://thislittleideawenttomarket.blogspot.com/2010/06/crawlers-are-everywhere.html ) that had identified that I am interested in patents and inventions. I clicked on the advertisement and did a search of the lawyers name with “complaint” in the search engine (used Google) and low and behold this lawyer has already had over 29 complaints (and counting) ruled against him by the patent office. Things like charging outrageous fees, signing powers of attorney for the clients, and misrepresentation. Thanks Google for leading me in the wrong direction, I guess all is ok as long as the lawyer’s check clears the Google bank.

Back To Work

Hello.
Well I am back to work on this project. I have been busy with work and life, but I am ready to start the ball rolling again on my idea/invention. I never really quit working on the idea but things have been moving slow and I have not been updating my blog.
Latest Developments:
I have reworked the design of my invention. After tinkering with the initial prototype (by the way there is a prototype), I had a couple of issues that needed to be solved. I have reworked the design using a piece of equipment I found at a cooking supply store. This item worked nicely at addressing the issues that I encountered with the initial invention.
I contacted a company. I sent an email to a company that specializes in items such as my invention to gauge their interest. Their response was positive, they told me they would be happy to look at my invention but not until I had patented it.
Next Step: Patent Pending

Types of Patents

There are three types of patents; Utility Patent, Design Patent and Plant Patent. A Utility Patent is used to protect a useful process, machine, article of manufacture or composition of matter, it is the hardest and most expensive to get. A design patent is for protecting the ornamental characteristics of some widget, it is fairly easy to get and much cheaper. The Plant Patent is for protecting a new variety of asexually produced plant. (Information gleaned from the USPTO website)
One common complaint that I have seen in my research of the ‘patent mill companies’ is that they are quick to steer people towards the Design Patent because they are fairly easy to get. The ‘patent mill companies’ can easily push these because most people think that having a patent, any patent, protects their intellectual property, however this is not necessarily true. A Design Patent should only be used when your invention is of some ornamental nature. Let us say a water bottle that has a particular shape, maybe looks like a dolphin. In this case the dolphin shape is what is covered under the patent not the water bottle. Now here is the rub. If you get a Design Patent for some sort of mechanical widget and it is a great marketable idea, all some company has to do is change the way it looks (ornamental characteristics) and mass produce it. They have not infringed on your patent rights because all you had were the rights to the way it looked.
The Plant Patent is exactly like it sounds here is an example;
http://www.lacebarkinc.com/brouchures/dyn1.pdf
My plan is to pursue a Utility Patent for my idea. . .

Who is advertising on This Little Idea Went to Market?

I checked out most of the invent, patent, idea advertisers that are being posted on this page by Google. I do not get any pennies for clicking on them I just get pennies when visitors to my blog click on them. The main reasons I checked them out was first to see if they were relevant to my blog, second to see what services they offered, and last to see the costs involved with the services.
The advertisements were relevant to my blog. The Google crawlers are doing their job. (When I think of crawlers I get a mental image of the Sentinels from The Matrix). Google should think about giving them a raise or a gold star or however you reward an algorithm.
So the main types of services they offered could be broken down into the parts from my Road Map post.
Idea > Record Idea > Patent Idea > Manufacture Widget > Market Widget > Sell Widget
There were companies that would do any and all of the following; patent searches, patent submissions, develop a prototype, market to industry, find a manufacturer, sell your idea, sell you an idea, etc. The one that I thought was really interesting was company that offered to record your idea for you so you would have proof of conception. They had an internet based form that you could enter everything in to, from the name of invention to the detail of the invention. Now I sometimes am not the smartest cookie, and I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express. But I am thinking that releasing my idea out into the World Wide Web is not going to help with proof of conception. I may be a skeptic, but I think this company is up to no good.
I unfortunately do not get to choose the companies that advertise on my blog, a mathematical equation does (crawler). So while I would like to believe that all of the companies that are advertising on my blog are outstanding and honest, I am sure that some are less than scrupulous.
The cost after some quick calculations, and if I outsourced all of the work could be close to $25,000 or more. The main difficulty in trying to cost something out like this is most everybody charges by the hour. I understand this concept because when you submit a patent to the patent office (USPTO) you do not know what they will come back with. So it would be hard for a lawyer to give you a set price. I hope to do as much as the work as I can myself such as develop the prototype and perform the patent search, but feel I will most likely need a patent lawyer for the patent application.
Know any good lawyers? I did not think so. (A little humor)
Anyway please click on the advertisements they are going to fund this idea.

Documenting My Idea

I have an idea, now I have to document it, proof of conception. This documentation first can be used to prove that it is my idea, second that I came up with the idea first, and last to antedate any prior art. My plan is to document the idea in my Inventor’s Notebook and sign and date it. Then I will find at least one or two people that I can trust to sign and date that they understood my invention.


Things I will include in my documentation; Name of Invention, how I thought of it, purpose it will serve, how it works, a drawing detailing the important parts, market it could serve, and anything else I can think of.

Is there anything else I need to include?
http://www.bookfactory.com/inventors-notebooks/inventors-notebook.php?gclid=CLuJtYXItaICFRRjnAodjTsi6A

Road Map

A map is nothing more than detailed directions on how to get from point A to point B. If you have ever used MapQuest or a GPS you know that there is a multitude of ways to navigate from one place to another. You can change your preferences to go by certain landmarks or to avoid certain roads. With each new request you get a new map, a new set of directions.
Today I start with an idea and want to get it to market. There are no landmarks I want to see or heavily trafficked areas I want to avoid (not yet anyway). The good thing about directions is you can change them along the way to suit your needs. If you are driving down the road and you see a sign for the World’s Largest Ball of Twine, you can go. After you are done analyzing the string you can double back or just get new directions. This will be my approach.

Idea > Record Idea > Patent Idea > Manufacture Widget > Market Widget > Sell Widget

When I was a child my parents had bought some land in Kentucky. This land was well off the beaten path. We stopped at the local market to ask for directions where I could hear the locals saying things like “turn right at the big oak tree” or “it’s about 10 miles as the crow flies”. I am sure these were great directions if you grew up in this community (or if you were a crow), but they were not so good if you did not.
My point! I know nothing about patent law, patents, intellectual property, marketing an idea, manufacturing, getting something to market, etc. Not yet anyway. Your input will be welcomed.
Thanks!

Crawlers Are Everywhere!

Sounds like the title of a horror movie. Crawlers are algorithms that Google and other search engines use to find websites that match up with the search terms that are entered into the search engine. So let’s say I wanted to find a blog on patents, inventions, and ideas, I could type in “This Little Idea Went to Market” and I would get several websites other than this one. Why you ask? Traffic.
Traffic is how many people are coming to your website (blog) and where it is turning up as a reference or link. So here is another call for help, if you have a social media site, blog or website link to me to help with my traffic. If you do please let me know so I can return the favor.
A quick recap of how you can help.
1. Bookmark this blog and visit it often.
2. Click on the advertisements each time you come. (Please)
3. Link this blog on your social media, blog or website.
4. Tell everyone you know to visit this blog and follow these steps.
5. Comment, feedback is welcome. Something you say may help guide this idea to market.
Thanks!

Call for Help!

Call for Help
Wow! I started to research how much his proposition will cost. Everything costs money! To apply for a patent costs money. To hire a patent lawyer costs money. To buy the stuff I need to turn my idea into a widget for proof of conception costs money.

‘Money, Money everywhere but not a dime to spend.’

My goal is to do this without having to ask for money or investing money I do not have. So I need your help!
Please click on the advertisements to help this idea along to market. It will take a little bit of your time, however when you see this idea make it to market you can tell people that you helped get it there. I am not saying that you have to buy anything (unless you want to) but each time you click on one of the advertisements my idea gets a little more money to help it get to market. How much? Not much, mere pennies, but every little bit helps. Together we can all do it. Thanks!

Engineer Process

I am an engineer so I need to make the chaos work in my world. I know what I have (an idea) and I know where I want to go (to market). So I am going to use an engineer’s solution process to make this work
Given:
Find:
Assumptions:
References:
Solution:
The Given here is my idea, or any idea. The Find is Marketable Goods, with the Solution being the path or my Road Map.
Assumptions are used by the engineer to simplify a problem. If I was calculating the weight of a 2000 linear feet wall, I could look at a one foot slice of that wall and then multiply it out at the end. This would be an assumption that the wall is similar throughout the 2000 feet. A common assumption that I make every day is that is reinforced concrete weighs 155 pounds per cubic foot the actual weight could be a little less or a little more, but when doing calculations on a building or foundation this assumption suffices. If it was discovered later that the reinforcement steel was going to be much more, the calculation could easily be redone by changing the assumption.
The first assumption that I am going to make for this project is that my idea is a great one and it will sell. Will it? I do not know, only time will tell. I could spend years and lots of money trying to figure this out and never proceed any further. At some point I do have to fill in an answer for this assumption, I will need to know if my idea is marketable, but I can figure that out later.
References for an engineer may be a design standard, test method or building code; for this project it will most likely be patent law, the USPTO and others.
So I plan on breaking the solution (Road Map) into smaller problems each with their own assumptions, and references then reconstruct the whole package back together at the end.

How Do I Get There From Here?

When doing most anything there is a logical order to follow. Most people learn at a very young age that you must put on your socks before your shoes. Once the shoes are on your feet it is impossible to get your socks on your feet without taking the shoes back off. One way to bypass this procedure is to be like my son and just not wear any shoes, but that can lead to other problems.
Simple analogy? Yes! Getting an idea to market is far more complicated than putting your shoes and socks on. But maybe not. Think about how to explain to someone who has never seen shoes and socks (maybe an imaginary someone), how to wear them. How would you start?
“Grab a sock.”
“What is a sock?”
“The white cotton thingy over there.”
“This?”
“Yes! Now put it on your foot.”
“How?”




Well you get the idea. I think of it like trying to explain the color blue to a person that has been blind since birth.
This is where I am at. I have an idea. I have heard of the Patent Office. I have watched Law and Order so I know what a lawyer is. I have shopped at Wal-Mart so I have seen the mounds of stuff people will buy.
Now What?

Goals of this Blog

Here are my goals for this Blog.
1) Use Blog format to help keep me involved and motivated to follow through with the steps to take an idea to market.
2) Determine a clear path(s) from idea to market, a roadmap that can be followed by others (and me) for future ideas.
3) To find an expose pitfalls and traps that may be encountered through the process.
4) Develop tools and processes that can be used by all, for ideas, inventions, patents, copyrights, marketing, etc.
5) To get input from others! Comments are welcome.
6) To make money. Not from selling advertising, but by getting a product on the commercial market.

New Invention

Scrubbing Luffa!