Everyone,
I am away in Alaska for the next month for work. Will update the blog when I return.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
No More Advertisements
First I would like to say thank you for everyone’s help and support for my idea/blog. Second, I am suspending all advertisements from my blog. The main reason for this is because I have no control and cannot verify the integrity of the companies that are advertising on my blog. Please keep checking back on my blog and as always your comments are welcome.
Thank you,
Blaine
Thank you,
Blaine
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Ideas, Ideas, Ideas!
I have new ideas pop into my head all the time. We all do. In the past I may or may not have written them down depending on what I was doing or thinking at the time. I have found that if I wait I will forget or downplay the value of the idea and move on to something else.
One of my new tenets is to record my idea as soon as possible (ASAP). I will not dilly about whether it is a good or bad idea, I can do that later I just need to write it down. I carry a small book for this something I can write a note, draw a sketch or project a statement onto. I can always come back to the idea and mentally develop it further, but only if I get it on paper.
We have all been in Wal-Mart and seen something on the shelf and said “That is my idea!”, or we have told somebody an idea only to have them say “I saw that on the internet.” That is the nature of ideas. You cannot keep a good idea down, or hidden. It will eventually surface. I believe that ideas are logical conclusions developed by our brains to solve a problem, fill a need or support a want. And while people have different thought processes influenced by nature and nurture, we are all still the same. If you thought of it somebody else did6oo, or will shortly. The race is now on to patent it.
One of my new tenets is to record my idea as soon as possible (ASAP). I will not dilly about whether it is a good or bad idea, I can do that later I just need to write it down. I carry a small book for this something I can write a note, draw a sketch or project a statement onto. I can always come back to the idea and mentally develop it further, but only if I get it on paper.
We have all been in Wal-Mart and seen something on the shelf and said “That is my idea!”, or we have told somebody an idea only to have them say “I saw that on the internet.” That is the nature of ideas. You cannot keep a good idea down, or hidden. It will eventually surface. I believe that ideas are logical conclusions developed by our brains to solve a problem, fill a need or support a want. And while people have different thought processes influenced by nature and nurture, we are all still the same. If you thought of it somebody else did6oo, or will shortly. The race is now on to patent it.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Path of a Utility Patent
The most appropriate patent for my particular idea is a Utility Patent. While I am not going to discuss what my idea is on this blog until I have properly protected, I will divulge that it has mechanical parts and is not ornamental in nature, oh and it is not a plant. So a Utility Patent is the way to go.
At the time of this blog there are two different paths to take for a Utility Patent, the traditional path and what is called the Provisional Patent. Both are valid paths to take each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.
The traditional path. . .
The Provisional Patent. . .
At the time of this blog there are two different paths to take for a Utility Patent, the traditional path and what is called the Provisional Patent. Both are valid paths to take each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.
The traditional path. . .
The Provisional Patent. . .
Monday, June 28, 2010
Plant Patents
As far as patents go the Plant Patent is probably one of the hardest to enforce. Think about it your neighbor has a brand new patented plant in his yard that is both beautiful and pest free. He brags to you about how nice it looks in his yard and how much he spent on it. He tells you that he paid so much for it because it is a ‘patented plant’ that is not available anywhere else.
You start remembering all the time you spent at your grandparent’s house as a kid and how your grandfather showed you plant propagation skills because he thought you would need to know them. You sneak over to your neighbor’s house in the middle of the night to make a few unnoticeable cuts on his plant, and the next growing season you are planting twenty of these beautiful ‘patented plants’ in your yard.
Did you infringe on the inventor’s rights? Yes!
Are you going to get in trouble for it? Slim chance! How would the inventor ever know?
I am not down-playing the value of a plant patent , I believe that hard working horticulturists should be able to recover money for the pain-staking time spent finding, developing and propagating new breeds of plants. I was just using the above analogy to point out the ease at which a Plant Patent could be infringed upon. Now imagine if a nurseryman (one who grows plants for a living) wanted to propagate this plant, he could do thousands in the same amount of time that it took you to do 20.
While my grandfather did not teach me plant propagation (it is a skill I learned while working as a research assistant in horticulture at Auburn University), I do believe that he would roll over in his grave if he knew people would pay $50 or more for an azalea, which is one of the easiest plants to propagate.
Check out the link below for some beautiful azaleas. The picture above is Encore Azalea 'twist'.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
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. . .
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. . .
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Is This Ironic?
Today it dawned on me that I was trying to fund my idea and get it to market by having everybody click on advertisements from companies that get paid to take ideas to market. Does anybody else think this is ironic? Please keep checking out my blog and clicking on the advertisements, every penny will help fund this idea. Comments are welcome. We can do it!
Thank you for all of your help.
Thank you for all of your help.
Friday, June 25, 2010
What is a Widget?
When I was in college many years ago and was forced to take an economics course the professor used the term widget. He used it often. I came to learn that a widget is a nondescript term used to mean a manufactured item. So instead of saying that ACME made rocket packs (you know the ones Wiley Coyote used to chase Road Runner). He would say that ACME made widgets (and I would imagine rocket packs).
Guiness Beer had their own form of a widget. This widget was put into their beer cans to help produce the well proportioned head that is associated with their beer. This picture is from the link below.
Other forms and uses of the widget are located here on Wikipedia.
Guiness Beer had their own form of a widget. This widget was put into their beer cans to help produce the well proportioned head that is associated with their beer. This picture is from the link below.
Other forms and uses of the widget are located here on Wikipedia.
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