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  • Submiting Your Patent Or Idea To A Company Can Be Challenging

You don’t always need a patent to get your invention idea reviewed by a top company, and get it sold for cash.  

For inventions that are not yet patented, or that contain trade secrets or features that are additional to the patent, I recommend considering the following procedure for submission to companies. (I am not giving legal advice, and you should always contact your attorney when you are dealing with legally binding contracts.) 

I typically meet many company executives, especially at trade shows, and many are very willing to offer to sign a confidentiality agreement. They typically ask that one be sent to them at their office after the trade show. This is all fine and good, however it is my experience that 1 in 10 of these executives ever follow through with their promise. This, by itself, is not necessarily an indicator that the company is not a worthwhile candidate, for reason that I will explain later. 

After returning from the trade show, I would send the company executive a confidential disclosure agreement and give them an opportunity to return it.  If, after 30 days and one verbal reminder, they have not returned the confidential disclosure agreement, and if it is still part of the strategy to submit the invention to this company, then I would do so with a cover letter of confidentiality.  The reason I would do this is because since the company already indicated that they are willing to receive the invention on a confidential basis, receiving a cover letter of confidentiality is not out of the realm of what they should expect.  

In my cover letter to the company I usually state the invention is being submitted under the understanding that all submitted information shall remain property of the inventor, and the company shall not commercialize or use the invention without a written agreement between the parties. As long as I get this term, it usually doesn’t matter so much to me if the company also agrees to confidentiality, as I have never had a company abuse this in my 33 years in the invention business. 

Attorneys have advised me that if I submit my invention to a company under these terms, and if the company accepts the submission without taking exception to the terms, then the procedure becomes and offer and acceptance, thereby potentially making the terms legally biding. (Again, no legal advice here, always consult your attorney) 

If critical patent time bars are an issue, then I would lean on the confidential aspect. The book, The Inventor’s Bible, has more detailed information about submitting inventions to companies. 

This vastly differs from the submission policy of large multi-national companies whose policy is either to not except non-patented inventions, or to receive inventions only after a non-confidential disclosure agreement is signed.  One reason for a large corporation to not agree with confidentiality is because they may be compromised if the company were working on a similar idea simultaneous to the inventor’s submission. A confidential agreement may bring undeserving legal liability to the company. This may welcome a lawsuit from the inventor against the company; something companies want to avoid.  I have heard several horror stories from corporate executives who have experienced this from unreasonable inventors.

Read more…

So, you want to sell your idea for a patent?  Here are some factors to bear in mind.

The companies who are your potential purchasers have different criteria for accepting new ideas.  Typically, larger companies demand that you have either a patent or patent pending prior to even looking at your invention.

Other small to medium size companies may be willing to look at your ideas with no patent pending and without a prototype.

In fact, one notable U.S. hand tool manufacturer accepts ideas without a patent and without a prototype. If they like it they will build a prototype, test market it within the company, and you still have the opportunity to potentially patent it on your own, AFTER you know that a company sees value in your invention and wants!

See how dramatically different these two approaches are.  One suggests that you at least initiate the substantial expense of applying for a patent, PRIOR to even submitting your invention to a company, and the other approach allows you to forego this expense until AFTER you at least get some indication as to the potential marketability and interest in your invention.

Read more…

The National Hardware Show, and Lawn & Garden Expo will be held May 4-6, 2010 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. This is an international trade show, and the major US show for consumer, do-it-yourself (DIY) products sold in Lowe’s, Home Depot, Menard’s, Ace, True Value, and hardware stores throughout the USA and even internationally.

If you are an inventor of new products relating to: Hardware & Tools; Lawn, Garden & Outdoor Living; Paint & Accessories; Homewares; Plumbing & Electrical; Storage & Organization; or need help with International Sourcing, this National Hardware Show is place to be.

Most inventors think that they need a patent and a prototype before attending such a trade show. NOT TRUE. The fact is, I’ve attended these shows, while representing inventions, for over three decades – so I’ll let you in on the secrets.

First, you attend the show, you do not pay the big bucks to have an exhibit booth. This allows you time to walk the entire show, which will take a day or two, and see every exhibitor, talking to those with promise.

Second, the attendance price is normally free, or under $100, airfare and hotels are cheap, so for a budget of $300 to $1,000 you can attend an entire three day show, all expenses paid. Why pay $5,000 for a patent, or for expensive prototyping, when you may find a manufacturer who can potentially help you fund your invention project, and save you the risk and investment?

Third, at the show, you are there to listen, not pitch your invention. Therefore, you never have to show anyone any trade secrets or patentable subject matter relating to your invention. All you need to do is be able to talk briefly about the potential benefits and advantages of your invention, just to get in the ballpark of conversation.

Forth, follow the teachings on Docie.com, Trade Shows webpage, Read more…

Many people think that invention submission type companies are the biggest sources for ripping off inventors. But these companies can’t even come close to taking money from inventors at a rate remotely near what inventors waste on patent attorneys to file erroneous, inappropriate, and ineffective patent applications.

Here’s how you get scammed. First you establish a profession of highly paid and powerful lawyers. Then you add a lobbying body like the APLA (American Patent Law Association) to do your gunning for you, both in Washington, and with PR. With this facade of seeming credibility, you publish material and build a case for telling the lowly independent inventors (I’m in this category, too) that the first thing you’d better do is patent your invention before doing anything else. Some go so far as to inappropriately tell the inventor that they are “protected” by the mere filing of a patent application.

Of course the justification for such advice is many fold. Filing a patent application, and thereby establishing your date of priority certainly may be critical; however, with most inventions being in rather small niche markets, this advantage is mostly outweighed by the inherent risk of losing any and all money you spend on patenting and developing your invention. Every inventor’s situation is different; one size doesn’t fit all. As such, should you patent BEFORE spending a little time and money doing some market research? The answer is, normally, and on average, NO. Read more…

In the early 1980’s, after I successfully commercialized my first invention, a blind spot mirror for vehicles, I decided I would change the direction of my business, and market ideas, patents and technology solely in the “green” categories of saving energy, helping the environment, reducing pollution, etc.

Being a successful inventor, many other inventors would approach me — some of whom had inventions that would save millions of barrels of oil, reduce C02 and other pollutions ten-fold, save energy and in general help the environment, our quality of lives and the planet.

The notion of working for inventors with such idealistic standards was exciting and encouraging.  However, being a neophyte in marketing and only in my 20s, I would have never believed what I was about to learn about marketing energy-saving inventions. Read more…

This past summer I was invited to attend the Hawaiian Inventors Conference in Honolulu September 19. I was hosted by the conference organizer and speaker, Daynin Dashefsky. Daynin is a real go-getter and loves to share her experiences of how she was successful commercializing her own invention. She holds conferences like this and has a series of CD’s sharing the process she went through, and the process any budding entrepreneur may need to go through to commercialize their invention, especially if they want to do so on their own, i.e., be an entrepreneur and have their own company for manufacturing, distribution and marketing.

What was somewhat unique about Daynin’s conference, despite the location, which was much more wonderful then most of the inventor conferences that I attend, was the format for the conference. Daynin was the principal conference speaker on Saturday.  Then, on the second day of the conference, all attendees were invited to spend 30-60 minutes interviewing any member of the half-dozen industry experts on various topics pertaining to the commercialization of inventions. Read more…

This Wisconsin inventors conference, sponsored by The University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Innovation Service Center, was held Oct. 1-2, 2009 in Dells, Wisconsin.  The conference was well attended by what seemed like 100-200 inventors as well as plenty of consultants and experts who facilitated workshops on various subjects relating to patenting, marketing, prototyping, manufacturing, raising venture capital, seeking government assistance, forming a company, commercialization, and licensing, and consulted with inventors at no charge.  If the inventor were to pay the regular hourly rate for these experts to consult with them on their invention project the cost could be $500 – $1,000 to get this level of advice.

It’s a great deal to attend a conference like this for under $200, or even under $100, depending on the conference, since you’re able to take advantage of these experts at no additional charge. And this is in addition to the valuable information that you learn from the speakers and workshop leaders. Read more…

Since the Wisconsin Inventor’s Conference I’ve been extremely busy negotiating deals that are coming down all at once for my clients. When it rains, it pours — but in this case it’s a good problem.

I’ll also be attending the 2009 Automotive Aftermarket Parts and Accessories trade show in Las Vegas the week of November 2, 2009. If you have automotive aftermarket related inventions or ideas, you should definitely come along.

Even if you’re an inventor still at the idea stage, with no patent application, you can still get many benefits from attending such a show, and you never have to reveal your invention in the process if you’re not ready. (Check out my article about attending trade shows)

Docie Marketing will be representing a couple of independent inventors at the show, and we have room to accept a couple more, so if you’re interested, send us an email or give us a call.

Photo courtesy of Roadsidepictures’ Flickr stream / CC BY-NC 2.0

There have been a lot of exciting changes at Docie Invention & Patent Marketing over the last few months:

• We’ve launched DIMWIT.com Self-Help for Inventors, a site with tons of helpful resources for inventors and an application (coming soon) to help them get customized invention advice and build a professional marketing presentation
• We’ve updated Docie.com with new information and a new look, and we’re working on improving our free evaluation submission process to make it more convenient for you
• We’ve launched a Twitter account (@DIMWITInventor) and Facebook page so we can better connect with our friends and fans
• And now we’ve launched a blog so we can share what’s going on with DIMWIT, Docie and The Inventor’s Bible

We hope you’ll join us by subscribing to the blog and connecting on our social sites. We can’t wait to talk inventions and patenting with everyone!