[boostindoubles]

I've got some things rattling around in my head that I want to make/create and/or sell the idea for.

Anyone in here been down this rabbit hole? Do I find an attorney and pay them to sift through it all?

 

[Westy]

I've got some things rattling around in my head that I want to make/create and/or sell the idea for.

Anyone in here been down this rabbit hole? Do I find an attorney and pay them to sift through it all?

Yes but only through corporate. It is a pain in the ass, I don't have to pay for and actually get bonuses for patents. It would cost you 5 figures to do it on your own so the IP better be worth something. Also the process isn't guaranteed. It also isn't hard for someone to use a slight variation on your patent for their own use or own patent.

Honestly most patents are just variations of new applications of old ideas. Pretty much every patented MTB suspension is just a minor variation on the same 4 bar mechanism that has been around since the middle ages, just slap the same tired old idea on a bike and you are a fucking genius!

 

[jonKranked]

This is all assuming the US patent office is still a thing after 1Q25

 

[jonKranked]

Yes but only through corporate. It is a pain in the ass, I don't have to pay for and actually get bonuses for patents. It would cost you 5 figures to do it on your own so the IP better be worth something. Also the process isn't guaranteed. It also isn't hard for someone to use a slight variation on your patent for their own use or own patent.

Honestly most patents are just variations of new applications of old ideas. Pretty much every patented MTB suspension is just a minor variation on the same 4 bar mechanism that has been around since the middle ages, just slap the same tired old idea on a bike and you are a fucking genius!

Don't forget - the cost to obtain a patent is one thing, but you also have to pay to defend it against potential infringement

 

[Westy]

Don't forget - the cost to obtain a patent is one thing, but you also have to pay to defend it against potential infringement

Yep. They are largely used for corporations to go to war with each other. Unless you have a million dollar idea it isn't necessarily worth it.

 

[binary visions]

Honestly most patents are just variations of new applications of old ideas.

I work in healthcare, and I've seen a staggering number of patents that are simply Normal Technical Thing but Now In A Healthcare Setting.

I would not at all be surprised if there's a patent out there that says, phone app which enables a healthcare worker to send an SMS text message to another healthcare worker's phone number.

This is not a pillow. It's a patented cushioned medical device which enables a patient to elevate their head during recuperative periods.

 

[Westy]

I work in healthcare, and I've seen a staggering number of patents that are simply Normal Technical Thing but Now In A Healthcare Setting.

I would not at all be surprised if there's a patent out there that says, phone app which enables a healthcare worker to send an SMS text message to another healthcare worker's phone number.

This is not a pillow. It's a patented cushioned medical device which enables a patient to elevate their head during recuperative periods.

Yeah. I worked with a guy who held over 50 patents that were just variations of clothes pins and c-clamps to hold two very specific parts together while they got bolts installed. There was absolutely nothing useful to them if you weren't assembling the exact same very unique parts.

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip> Pretty much every patented MTB suspension is just a minor variation on the same 4 bar mechanism that has been around since the middle ages, just slap the same tired old idea on a bike and you are a fucking genius!

Don't forget - the cost to obtain a patent is one thing, but you also have to pay to defend it against potential infringement

<Dave W has entered the chat>

 

[Full Trucker]

Aren't there other ways to "protect" IP that aren't patents?

 

[Adventurous]

Coworker just took a $100K home equity loan to to cover fees for a patent attorney. So yeah, your idea better have some legs.

Aren't there other ways to "protect" IP that aren't patents?

Pay your local mob a few hundred to break the kneecaps of anyone infringing upon your IP? It would take a lot of busted knees to catch up to those attorney fees...

 

[Jm_]

I've got some things rattling around in my head that I want to make/create and/or sell the idea for.

Anyone in here been down this rabbit hole? Do I find an attorney and pay them to sift through it all?

Just post it here.

 

[DaveW]

<Dave W has entered the chat>

You called?

 

[mandown]

clothes pins and c-clamps to hold two very specific parts together

 

[gonefirefightin]

I had a buddy who made the very first rooftop tent. It took him 2 years and over 120k to get the patent. He sent them off to Asia for manufacturing. Two months later, there were 4 new models and versions being sold by different brands in the US for half the price of his prototype, which wasn't final yet. Asian manufacturers had changed the design in the smallest ways that didn't infringe, making it impossible to enforce or adjudicate.

 

[boostindoubles]

I visited my aunt and she has a patent that she just received and she makes it sound like it wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. Who knows though.

Sifting through existing patents to see whats been done before seems daunting enough.

 

[gonefirefightin]

I visited my aunt and she has a patent that she just received and she makes it sound like it wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. Who knows though.

Sifting through existing patents to see whats been done before seems daunting enough.

also several different types of patents, most of which you would need to have with alt versions to stave off infringement, the attorney is mandatory if one has a real money maker/game changer. only processes patents seem to pay in the industrial/agricultural/manufacturing world. the other patents that always pay out are for defense.

 

[boostindoubles]

I want to introduce an idea to a company and if they are able to sell a bunch of it I want to grab a piece of the pie. Going to the company direct was my original plan but then I thought maybe they'd just cut me out if I wasn't prepared.

 

[dump]

I want to introduce an idea to a company and if they are able to sell a bunch of it I want to grab a piece of the pie. Going to the company direct was my original plan but then I thought maybe they'd just cut me out if I wasn't prepared.

Giant also enters the chat.

 

[Colonel Angus]

I've got some things rattling around in my head that I want to make/create and/or sell the idea for.

Anyone in here been down this rabbit hole? Do I find an attorney and pay them to sift through it all?

My wife has two patents. She used a lawyer who specializes in that field to prepare the applications. It wasn’t cheap but it wasn’t outrageous, around $5K if I recall correctly.

 

[iRider]

In Europe a design protection can be applied for, not sure if this is a thing in the US.

Industrial design protection

The EU has harmonised industrial design protection across EU countries and introduced the Community design that offers unitary protection across the EU through a single procedure.

single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu

Easier and cheaper to obtain than a patent. Some companies use this although they could have gone for a patent if the technical innovation makes a product look a certain way. One example how this could be applied in the bike world would be if you want to protect a linkage-style fork: distinct looks go hand-in-hand with a technological "advantage".

 

[jdcamb]

I invented Ridemonkey. I have never got one ounce of recognition. Totally passed over for a Moderator position. A red Porsche 911. And a check for eleventy billion dollars. The downhill jersey is pretty awesome, however.

 

[gonefirefightin]

I want to introduce an idea to a company and if they are able to sell a bunch of it I want to grab a piece of the pie. Going to the company direct was my original plan but then I thought maybe they'd just cut me out if I wasn't prepared.

Not sure if KY jelly will be interested in your fetishes but take some vid for the pitch

 

[Westy]

Not sure if KY jelly will be interested in your fetishes but take some vid for the pitch

You know his line of work. I am guest is a smart fart sniffing device with an accompanying "Who Dealt It" app.

 

[boostindoubles]

I already know a guy who invented a water based personal lubricant and was selling them in ketchup packets at CVS and truck stops all over New England. A medical device business bought it all, making the dude a multi millionaire.

 

[jonKranked]

I already know a guy who invented a water based personal lubricant and was selling them in ketchup packets at CVS and truck stops all over New England. A medical device business bought it all, making the dude a multi millionaire.

that's pretty much the business model

 

[jdcamb]

I already know a guy who invented a water based personal lubricant and was selling them in ketchup packets at CVS and truck stops all over New England. A medical device business bought it all, making the dude a multi millionaire.

I don't get any recognition for that either. I can afford expensive ketchups though. I have 3 bottles of Dijon Ketchup in my fridge. I no longer have to load the lube into those small packages. I pay someone to do it for me.

 

[Westy]

I already know a guy who invented a water based personal lubricant and was selling them in ketchup packets at CVS and truck stops all over New England. A medical device business bought it all, making the dude a multi millionaire.

I'm a fan

 

[mandown]

water based personal lubricant and was selling them in ketchup packets at CVS and truck stops

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip> 3 bottles of Dijon Ketchup

I get this reference.

 

[chuffer]

that's pretty much the business model

@boostindoubles this is the answer.

A patent for an idea has very little practical value to a manufacturer. Build a prototype, refine it, test it, build a first gen product, sell enough of them to show that the market needs the product, then sell the whole thing.

Nothing personal, but people with great ideas are a dime a dozen. Not trying to be a dick by any means, but this is how the situation looks from my perspective.

Fwiw, we have a competitor that literally sells a reverse engineered version of one of our patented (multiple patents!) products. It was more cost effective for us to invest in further development of that product than to waste it on lawyers defending our patent rights.

A lot of the discussion also depends on scalability and market volume for the product you are talking about. Markets of $1.5 M, $15 M and $150 M require different strategies.