East London Inventors Club Main Website
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| Licensing vs Self Manufacture | What do you see as the Pro's and Con's involved in licensing vs making the product you've designed yourself, and do you think you really need an agent to broker a deal? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Licensing vs Self Manufacture | [quote:21e3c77e0c="Anonymous"]What do you see as the Pro's and Con's involved in licensing vs making the product you've designed yourself, and do you think you really need an agent to broker a deal?[/quote:21e3c77e0c] [b:21e3c77e0c]To Quote Author H. Reese -[/b:21e3c77e0c] [i:21e3c77e0c]"If you start your own business, and if you're successful, you might make a lot of money. Keep in mind, however, that most businesses fail by the third year, and if that happens to you, you'll probably find yourself in serious debt. Your home, your car and your money were undoubtedly pledged for loans, and they now belong to the bank... If you decide to license your idea, again you have two choices. You can do it yourself, or try to find someone who's willing to do it for you."[/i:21e3c77e0c] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Licensing versus Manufacture | Much depends on the potential for the development of a range of products and the business skills needed to exploit the commercial potential. If there is a strong likelihood that this is going to be a one-off product then it is a more risky proposition to set up a manufacturing business that will depend on one product for its survival. In this instance it is better to find a company that has complementary products or routes to market and license the product. If it possible to develop a range of products then the key question is whether the 'inventor' has the ability to manage a business beyond the product development stages. Financiers will often look for a management team with a breadth of experience across many disciplines, including sales, marketing, finance and operations. If it is possible to build such a team then setting up a manufacturing business is a good option. The question about using an agent to broker a deal largely depends on the nature of the market (lots of potential licensees or one or two blue chip companies), the attitude of potential licensees (will they deal direct with an inventor), the inventor's ability to negotiate a good deal (viewing of BBC2's Dragon's Den is essential preparation for this!). Colin Cramphorn is a licensing agent and spoke at the February 2005 meeting fo the club. If you want to discuss this option further please ask for information from a club committee member. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Licensing versus Manufacture | [quote:cee44b7c18="Rob"]Colin Cramphorn is a licensing agent and spoke at the February 2005 meeting for the club. If you want to discuss this option further please ask for information from a club committee member.[/quote:cee44b7c18] Colin's presentation was very interesting, especially the sections that illustrated the timescales involved in getting a product to market. In particular what can or needs to be accomplished in those crucial first 12 months from an initial patent filing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Licensing | I would advise anyone contemplating licensing their invention or idea to use the best negotiators possible as licensing agreements are very complicated and you can easily get shafted. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Guide To Using These Forums | [b:4701376089]The forum is split into 3 main sections[/b:4701376089] [color=red:4701376089]1. Public Forum 2. Club Members Forum 3. Committee Members Forum[/color:4701376089] The [b:4701376089]public forum[/b:4701376089] is where anyone from the internet can join and post general questions about the club, inventions, patents, etc Other members of the public or club members can read what's written and reply to postings. The [b:4701376089]Club Members section[/b:4701376089] is for all fully paid up East London Inventors Club members (currently £24 per year) to post questions and queries to each other. Full members and committee members can view what's posted in this section and reply to postings. The [b:4701376089]Committee Section[/b:4701376089] is for club committee members only and only they have access to this section for posting, reading and replying. When you first register on this forum you will be sent an email which contains a clickable link. Clicking on this link within 24 hours of registering confirms the email address you used is indeed yours and allows you to proceed with postings questions, etc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Useful computer resources | [b:df569e8860]Antivirus Software[/b:df569e8860] For anyone using a PC to do their work on .. the last thing you need is to lose it all to a virus or even have your emails to others blocked because your emails contain a virus. There are many companies offering free anti-virus software, one of the best known is AVG Antivirus software Which you can download from www.grisoft.com [b:df569e8860]Free Office Software[/b:df569e8860] You don't have to spend hundreds on Microsoft Office software to be able to view and edit documents in Word, Excel, etc - several companies provide cheaper or free alternatives Open Office is one of the best free office suites out there and offers a word processor, spreadhseet, database and presentation package all for free www.openoffice.org You can also try www.software602.com for a smaller office suite package suitable for older PC's - not free but with prices starting around £20 a lot cheaper then MS office | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Online Resources | MIT has produced a useful online guide for inventing http://web.mit.edu/invent/h-main.html [color=darkblue:c7d66c5d15]Which covers the fllowing topics Chapter 1: What Is Intellectual Property? Chapter 2: What Can Be Patented? Chapter 3: Is My Idea Patentable? Chapter 4: How Do I Conduct a Patent Search? Chapter 5: Is My Invention Worth Patenting? Chapter 6: How Do I Apply for a Patent? Chapter 7: How Do I Prove the Idea Is Mine? Chapter 8: What Are Some Options to Commercialize My Patent? Chapter 9: How Do I License My Invention? Chapter 10: What Are Some Guidelines in Developing a Business Plan? Chapter 11: How Do I Raise Capital? [/color:c7d66c5d15] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How can I protect my idea? | [b:04c2cb04e8][u:04c2cb04e8]What is IPR?[/u:04c2cb04e8] (Intellectual Property Rights)[/b:04c2cb04e8] [b:04c2cb04e8]PATENTS[/b:04c2cb04e8] Patents are generally intended to cover products or processes that possess or contain new functional or technical aspects. Patents protect a new invention for What it is, What it does, How it works, How it is made. What it is made of. To be patentable your invention must a) be new, b) involve an inventive step, c) be capable of industrial application. ‘A patent for an invention is granted by government to the inventor, giving the inventor the right for a limited period to stop others from making, using or selling the invention without the permission of the inventor. When a patent is granted, the invention becomes the property of the inventor, which –can be bought, sold, rented or hired….UK patents will only give the holder rights within the UK and rights to stop others from importing the patented product into the UK’ (Patent Office 2004) Remember: to get a patent your invention must be absolutely new, so don’t talk to anyone in detail about it because you won’t be able to get a patent. [b:04c2cb04e8]COPYRIGHT[/b:04c2cb04e8] Copyright protects items such as:- Stories that you write, original dramatic works, original musical works & sound recordings, songs, your drawings, engravings ,photographs, sculptures, logos etc computer programs you write, films including videos & DVDs, broadcasts. In fact any artistic or aesthetic creation. Copyright is free and automatic and starts straight away. There is no official register for copyright. It is an unregistered right. Copyright comes into effect immediately, as soon as something that can be protected is created and “fixed” in some way e.g. on paper, on firm, via sound recording, as an electronic record on the internet etc. It is a good idea for you to mark your copyright work with the copyright symbol followed by your name and date. If it can be posted to yourself by registered post and left sealed in the envelope this will give a record of the date of copyright. Copyright does not protect ideas. It protects the way the idea is expressed in a piece of work but it does not protect the idea itself. (Patent Office 2004) [b:04c2cb04e8]DESIGNS[/b:04c2cb04e8] To qualify for registration, your design must not be the same as any design which has already been made available to the public and it must have individual character. A registered design Provides the exclusive right to make, import, use or stock any product to which the design has been applied or is incorporated, or to let others use the design under terms agreed with the owner, in the UK and the Isle of Man. It is a recognised intellectual property right which protects the design from being copied by competitors for up to 25 years [b:04c2cb04e8]TRADE MARKS[/b:04c2cb04e8] A trade mark is any sign which can distinguish the goods and services of one trader from those of another. A sign includes, for example, words, logos, pictures or a combination of these. Basically a trade mark is a badge of origin. Large sums of money are invested in devising trade marks to suit a particular product or service and to appeal to a particular market. At present it costs £200 for an application. This includes one class of goods or services. For every other class you apply for it costs a further £50 for each class. Most of the above information was taken from the Patent Office literature 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Invention Promotion Companies | [b:d56124ced7]Invention Promotion Companies[/b:d56124ced7] If the company you contact is a reputable one then they will not normally want money up front. They will negotiate with you for a percentage of royalties or part of your invention. My advice to would be users of such companies is to find out if they are members of a recognised trade association. If so then you can check on the background of such companies. If however thay have advertisments on TV or in the press then be vary cautious of such companies as these people usually charge a large fee payable in advance and then sign a non-disclosure agreement. Which means they then cannot promote your invention as they have signed that they won't. The majority of these rip off companies seem to originate in the USA although I have heard of one recently trading in Ireland. Majority of inventors are not rich so these preditors pray on loan inventors. My advice is to go along to any one of the Inventors clubs listed on this web site and get free advice before parting with any money. These clubs usually know of the bogus Promoters. [i:d56124ced7]Terry Jennings East London Inventors Club.[/i:d56124ced7] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All good advice from Terry .. one other factor to consider that often gets forgotten is the timescales involved and to have them written into any contracts. I've often seen many deals signed without any thought been addressed to time. For instance one company I know had signed a deal to have a piece of software developted, without putting into the contract a deadline, when the software wasn't working and the deadline had already passed they were still paying them £30,000 per week to fix it. I've seen the same thing happen in property deals where someone who's inherited some land gives their land to a developer who wishes to build flats for sale .. in exchange for a number of flats being given to the original land owner. However I've seen many times when no set date is given for the flats to be built by and it can be 10 years later and the developer now owns the land and has done nothing to it. In the meantime the value of the land has shot up and if the orignal land owner wants it back they'll have to pay the new price. The same thing can happen in licensing deals, good agents who take on your invention to market and sell to a manufacturer should offer a a set amount of time in which they will get a deal signed for you and if they haven't gotten you a deal say within 6 months then everything should revert back to yourself and you should be free to take your invention to another agent or market it yourself. So don't forget to factor in timescales in any deals you make. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interesting Article - A License To Sell | [b:536d3a7d71]DECEMBER 01, 2002[/b:536d3a7d71] -- The first image that comes to mind when most people think of licensing is sports or entertainment, but there's more to it than that. Licensing has become a powerful, contemporary form of marketing and brand extension. Licensing is actually the leasing of a legally protected entity, be it a name, logo, saying, character, or combination of elements. In short, licensing is a marketing tool crafted to gain visibility and creditability and generate sales from a well-known name. The success of licensed product in your store relies on determining which products fit into the upscale market and your customers' profiles. While some licensing concepts align perfectly with the specialty market, others should be left to the masses. [b:536d3a7d71]Choosing a Name[/b:536d3a7d71] Specialty retailers have a wealth of licensed product to choose from, including character-based tabletop and foods for kids, celebrity chef-branded kitchenware and foods, artist and designer label products, as well as well-known culinary brands extending beyond their original realm. In 2001, more than $5.6 billion in royalty income was generated from licensed products, according to a study by the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association (LIMA) in conjunction with the Yale School of Management and the Harvard Business School. Art licensing alone — such as Rosenthal's use of Andy Warhol — generated $147 million. The licensing study found that the strongest licensing categories continue to be entertainment/character (44.3% share of the market), trademarks/brands (17.2%), and finally, fashion (16.2%).... [i:536d3a7d71]Rest of the article can be found at this site[/i:536d3a7d71] [url]http://www.gourmetretailer.com/gourmetretailer/magazine/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1776696[/url] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WRTI website | http://www.wrti.org.uk WRTI's web-site for inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs provides a comprehensive source of information, acting as a one stop 'shop' linking to the leading related sites. WRTI also distributes a free inventors newsletter. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: WRTI website | [quote:f78087ae69="Mike"]http://www.wrti.org.uk WRTI's web-site for inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs provides a comprehensive source of information, acting as a one stop 'shop' linking to the leading related sites. WRTI also distributes a free inventors newsletter.[/quote:f78087ae69] Thanks for the information Mike, for future search purposes it should be noted WRTI stands for the Wessex Round Table of Inventors and is based in Southampton ..Just had a look at the newsletters WRTI has online and they're a very interesting read. http://www.wrti.org.uk/newsletter.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| List of Interesting Online Articles on Inventing | [i:1617a5a805]Some of you might have noticed that we've added a inventor news module which looks for news articles on the web that contain keywords like Patent, Invention, inventor, etc .. this list of stories within the module is automatically generated and updated every hour so some of the older articles disappear over time from the list .... so I thought it may be a good idea to post on here some links to some of the more interesting ones so the information isn't lost.[/i:1617a5a805] [b:1617a5a805]Bright ideas, big wait on tech payback[/b:1617a5a805] [size=9:1617a5a805]By Michael Kanellos, CNET News.com Wednesday, March 23 2005 9:45 AM [/size:1617a5a805] The tech industry is famous for billion-dollar ideas. But the rewards don't always to go to the inventor. Some of the most important technologies of the past 50 years--the transistor, the relational database and the microprocessor--weren't the slam dunks for their creators that you might expect.... http://asia.cnet.com/news/industry/0,39037106,39222830,00.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Making your postings searchable | [b:c24fc73391]Making The Information You Post Easy To Find[/b:c24fc73391] Please remember at the end of the day this forum is just a computerised database with a very fancy looking frontend In order to make this forum as useful a resource as possible you should also bare in mind that as the forum grows in time ... people will come here searching for information and relying more and more on the forum's built in search facility. So please remember to make the information in your postings as easy to find as possible as well. For example if you use an acronym do try and mention the full meaning as well in your postings e.g. if you post about NDA's do try and mention in your posting the full meaning of the term, i.e. in this case [b:c24fc73391]Non-Disclosure Agreement[/b:c24fc73391] This way anyone searching for the word [b:c24fc73391]agreement [/b:c24fc73391]for example will also find your posting when they do a search. BTW - a quick search on this website www.acronymfinder.com shows NDA could also stand for the following: [size=9:c24fc73391]NDA New Drug Application (US FDA) NDA National Dance Association NDA National Dart Association NDA National Day of Action NDA National Deaf Academy NDA National Dealers Association NDA National Defence Academy (military training school in India) NDA National Defense Academy (Japan) NDA National Defense Act (Canada, USA) NDA National Defense Area NDA National Democratic Alliance (group of political parties in India) NDA National Dental Association NDA National Department of Agriculture (South Africa) NDA National Diploma of Agriculture (UK) NDA National Directory Assistance (Sprint) NDA National Disability Authority (Ireland) NDA National Distribution Authority NDA National Drilling Association NDA Natural Disaster Assistance[/size:c24fc73391] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Following on from the above post also remember that anything you post on here becomes searchable, so please don't post personal information such as your phone number, home address or email address ... if people wish to contact you they can do so by sending you a PM (Personal Message) through the system and at present you each have storage for upto 100 personal messages. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Patent Costs | How much do patents cost and how long do they last for? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Invention Courses | Are there any places in London where you can go on courses to learn more about inventing? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Making Prototypes | Are there any firms or colleges out there that can help you make working prototypes? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Licensing vs Self Manufacture | [quote:c63862a811="Guest"]What do you see as the Pro's and Con's involved in licensing vs making the product you've designed yourself, ...?[/quote:c63862a811] The pro's are if you succeed at manufacturing the product you invent yourself you have more control and get more of the rewards, but you also have more to lose, more stress to manage and could take you longer as well to turn a profit if at all. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favourite Inventions | What are people's favorite and most admired inventions? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Favourite Inventions | [quote:16ee568e1a="Kevin_Smith"]What are people's favorite and most admired inventions?[/quote:16ee568e1a] [b:16ee568e1a]I have two inventions I like in particular[/b:16ee568e1a] 1. The Paperclip - because it's such a simple idea 2. Those chains that fit on top of supermarket trolleys and can only be released when you put £1 coin in them and which you need to put back all nice and tidly to get your £1 back. I think that idea is a stroke of genius as it's a simple idea that controls one aspect of human behaviour. Go to any super market without one of those devices on their trolleys and you'll see trolleys everywhere, go to one with the devices and they're always put back neatly into the trolley bays. [img:16ee568e1a]http://www.unarco.com/number4.gif[/img:16ee568e1a] [img:16ee568e1a]http://www.alibaba.com/photo/50111386/Coin_Operated_Trolley_Lock.summ.jpg[/img:16ee568e1a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Making Prototypes | Kevin, In answer to your question. We at the East London Inventors Club have been promised the use of UEL facilities and as members get a reduced charge for 3D cad modelling, access to UEL library for research etc, Product design Lab, machine workshop at Barking Campus, and we are striving to get much more. If you have time come along to one of our meetings and see what we have to offer. You might even be tempted into becoming a member. Several of us have already trod the bumpy road to market so our imput to new ideas can save you money and lots of heartaches. Give us a try. If you are not in our area then look at the other clubs listed in the relevant section. By being a member of a club you will get help and guidance from other members. Terry Jennings Chairman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Patent costs | The cost of a patent varies considerably depending on many things 1 The charges of your Patent Attorney 2 The depth of searches needed. 3 Detailed drawings if needed 4 Number of countries you are applying for a patent 5 Overseas searches. However the application for a patent in the UK is free and this enables you to try and sell or license your idea/invention within 12 months after this you will need the services of a Patent Agent or attorney. Good ones cost money. Because of the costs many new inventions do not proceed to a full patent. Terry Jennings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper dies | [b:065a560187]A very interesting article, this chap only died last month[/b:065a560187] DETROIT (AP) — Robert Kearns, the inventor of intermittent windshield wipers, has died of cancer, according to family members. He was 77. In 1967, Kearns patented the intermittent wipers he invented. He demonstrated the system to Ford Motor Co., which introduced cars with intermittent wipers in 1978. Other automakers soon followed. Kearns filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Ford and collected $10 million in 1990. Five years later, the U.S. Supreme Court let Kearns collect around $21 million from Chrysler for using his design ... [i:065a560187]Full Story on this website..[/i:065a560187] http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-02-25-obit-kearns_x.htm?POE=TECISVA [b:065a560187]I saw this question posted on a newsgroup and thought is was interesting[/b:065a560187] First, he received patents in 1967, so he probably invented the device around 1964, but he didn't receive his pay-out until 30 years later! It's a good thing he didn't quit his day job as an engineering professor. Second, he got a lot of money, but he didn't get what he wanted. He wanted to be a manufacturer of the windshield wipers, but was unable to get an injuction that would have forced the car makers to buy from him; instead he spent his efforts working on the law suits. So, what do you think? Was he successful? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper dies | [quote:48c61fee95="Anonymous"] So, what do you think? Was he successful?[/quote:48c61fee95] This website link provides a really detailed account of this inventor's life. http://www.booknoise.net/johnseabrook/stories/technology/flash/ He did manage to get $10 Million from Ford 15 years ago but continued to spend his time fighting in courtrooms .. where 5 years later he got another $21 million from Chrysler ... So people in a similar situation have to ask themselves if it's worth the time and effort involved to them .. In his final years, he drove around in two aging vehicles: a 1978 Ford pickup and a 1965 Chrysler. Neither had intermittent wipers. That article also highlights one of the benefits of joining an Inventors Club - as I'm sure most companies would be less likely to walk over the rights of an Inventor who is part of a well established organisation rather then one who is totally alone. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Favourite Inventions | [quote:1336d3710f="Diamond"][quote:1336d3710f="Kevin_Smith"]What are people's favorite and most admired inventions?[/quote:1336d3710f] [b:1336d3710f]I have two inventions I like in particular[/b:1336d3710f] 1. The Paperclip - because it's such a simple idea[/quote:1336d3710f] The paperclip is certainly a good example of a very simple idea for a very useful product | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AVATAR Photos | [b:26f9ab4d7a]For those of you that had their pictures taken at the March Club Meeting - your resized Avatars are available to download below on link[/b:26f9ab4d7a] http://www.eastlondoninventorsclub.com/small/ If you're a fully paid up club member then PM (Personally Message) me to let me know once you've registered so I can allow you access to the Club Members section as well [b:26f9ab4d7a]Also please note can we get members of the site to either use the Male / Female Avatars we've provided or a Portrait Photo headshot of themselves so when you come to a club meeting you'll be able to recognise each other.[/b:26f9ab4d7a] Please refrain from using any other kind of Avatars, such as cartoons, drawings, etc. Lets keep this site looking as professional as possible. We reserve the right to delete, or alter any image posted on this site as we see fit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Invention Courses | [quote:390abe018a="Kevin_Smith"]Are there any places in London where you can go on courses to learn more about inventing?[/quote:390abe018a] The British Library runs a course on how to use their facilities and how to search for patents, that is always a good starting point. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gallery Photos | [b:babcff659f]New photos taken before last night's meeting have now been added to the site click below to see them[/b:babcff659f] http://www.eastlondoninventorsclub.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=1 For people new to the club these pictures show the brand new Docklands campus at the University of East London where our club meetings take place. Photos begin at Cyprus DLR Station and takes you on a walk through the campus to the Lecture hall where our March club meeting was held. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Favourite Inventions | [quote:c9af4a7ea3="Kevin_Smith"]What are people's favorite and most admired inventions?[/quote:c9af4a7ea3] I personally like the simple inventions that make you slap yourself on the head and ask "Why didn't I think of that?" Just a couple of my favourites: 1. The bit of plastic on the end of your laces that stop them from fraying. 2. The little plastic thing in the middle of your take-away-pizza that stops the cheese sticking to the underside of the box lid. 3. Everybody knows about cats-eyes in the road. Pure genious. But when I was in the US I heard about a man who took this one step further. Along certain roads you will find blue cats-eyes fixed at certain positions. This is to quickly alert fire-fighters travelling at high speed of a fire hydrant beside the road. Apparently, the chap who came up with this retired to a holiday island, living in luxury. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sponsor needed for invention ( £7000 ) Total | My name is Richard Cloete and I am looking for a sponsor or investor to fund one of my inventions. I am looking for someone who can afford to invest £7000, which will be paid to the company (I.S.C)that will be doing all the necessary research and promotion of my invention. The sponsor will be allowed to attend the meetings and will have access to all the information relating to the funds supplied by himself/herself. I have already had a basic information package drawn up in America which contains information relating to cost approximations and sales estimates as well as the target market and various other aspects. If you are interested in finding out more and have no problem signing a statement of confidentiality then please do not hesitate to contact me. Richard Cloete Mobile: 0797 359 4587 E-Mail: ricclo2004@yahoo.co.uk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ISC | Be extremely wary about these people. I see their charges have risen to £7000 now it was only £2000 several years ago when I was first tempted to contact them. I did however contact the Media (TV Press etc) who warned me about these people. Yes they will take your money, they will sign non disclosure agreements and in return will give you an attractive portfolio with your name and product inserted in the right places. But because of the signed NDA they have not been able to do anything else. And because of this you cannot sue them. Its their get out. Join an inventors club this way you will get the right advice free of charge and credibility when approaching prospective manufacturers. You do not say where you are in the country but their are many kinks to clubs throughout UK. Best of luck But most of all don't give up. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Sponsor needed for invention ( £7000 ) Total | Join an inventors club first before parting with any money. You do not say which part of the country that you live in but our website has links with most UK Inventor Clubs. Good luck Brenda Reay Club Treasurer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Just a quick search on google brings up a lot of websites that mention ICS and most aren't very positive. Have a look at this article by Time Magazine http://web.archive.org/web/20010413114117/www.time.com/time/magazine/articles/0,3266,90511,00.html There is also this American New Report Video worth a look, it's an MPEG Movie approx. 39 MB in size so will take around 10 to 15 minutes for most broadband users to download and about 10 times longer if you're still on dial up. http://www.inventors.org/video/CHANNEL11.mpg [i:272614db0f]Also some good guidlines on here[/i:272614db0f] http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/services/invent.htm [b:272614db0f]Also note in the USA there is now an act to help protect consumers[/b:272614db0f] The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 gives you certain rights when dealing with invention promoters. Before an invention promoter can enter into a contract with you, it must disclose the following information about its business practices during the past five years: how many inventions it has evaluated, how many of those inventions got positive or negative evaluations, its total number of customers, how many of those customers received a net profit from the promoter's services, and how many of those customers have licensed their inventions due to the promoter's services. This information can help you determine how selective the promoter has been in deciding which inventions it promotes and how successful the promoter has been. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inventive Movies | Anyone know of an invention related movies if so post here. Watching movies is often a good way to pick up new ideas and also see how others tackled certain problems. I highly recommend any of the films mentioned below. For more details on any see www.imdb.com I can think of only Four - but I'msure there's lots more 1. [b:d7e74b87f9]Pirates of Silicon Valley[/b:d7e74b87f9] - About how the idea of the graphical user interface was taken from Xerox and used by Apple and then in Turn used by Microsoft - certainly worth a watch. 2. [b:d7e74b87f9]The First 20 Million[/b:d7e74b87f9] - About a young chap that sets out to build the world's first $99 PC 3. [b:d7e74b87f9]Lorenzo's Oil[/b:d7e74b87f9] - The True Story of a boy that develops a disease so rare that nobody is working on a cure, so his father decides to learn all about it and tackle the problem himself 4. [b:d7e74b87f9]Breaking All The Rules[/b:d7e74b87f9] - a made-for-Canadian-TV-movie called about the invention and marketing of the famous board game Trivial Pursuit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Freedom Ship | This is an inventive idea I saw proposed a few years ago, it called the freedom ship and the idea is to make use of the fact most of the earth is covered in water and build a huge ship so big that people can actually live and work on, as if it were a floating city. The ship would remain in constant motion and circle the earth every two years, with an airport runway on the top deck so planes could land and take off bringing with them tourists and visitors. A great idea, although raising financing and finding somewhere big enough to build it will be major challenges. http://www.freedomship.com [img:c5feb1b612]http://download77.com/freedomship/gallery/new/thumbnails/th_bow_low.jpg[/img:c5feb1b612] [img:c5feb1b612]http://download77.com/freedomship/gallery/new/thumbnails/th_rear_high.jpg[/img:c5feb1b612] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| £100m boost for great British ideas | [b:7537062bc0]Competition opens - Monday, 25th April 2005 [/b:7537062bc0] Lord Sainsbury, Science and Innovation Minister, has announced £100 million for the next round of the Technology Programme with automotive, energy and aerospace sectors set to benefit. Lord Sainsbury urged UK firms and research communities to get ready to apply for the latest competition of funding from the DTI's £320 million Technology Programme, which enables business-led ideas off the drawing board and into the marketplace. Thirty million pounds will be specifically targeted for the validation of complex systems which are used in high technology industries like aerospace, automotive and energy. The government's aim to tackle issues like climate change is also at the forefront, with zero emission enterprises and emerging energy technologies highlighted as priority areas. Lord Sainsbury said: "Exploiting research can be a costly venture, even inhibiting for many businesses, but to keep Britain at the forefront of the global economy it is essential that we maintain inward investment in key innovative areas. 'This £100 million investment - part of £320 million from the DTI - is vital support to businesses taking forward emerging technologies that will make the UK a key knowledge driven economy.." The £100 million of funding will be available for companies to carry out Collaborative Research and Development in eight high-priority technology areas. They are; Advanced Materials: high performance materials in extreme and hostile environments. Materials that are reliable and effective under severe operational conditions, such as aggressive or safety critical environments; Biopharmaceutical bioprocessing - a key technology that uses a wide range of techniques used in the development and manufacturing of bioscience-based medicines; Advanced Manufacturing: Direct writing - a technology used to produce or deposit materials on complex two or three-dimensional structures; Advanced Manufacturing: Next generation lasers aimed at the manufacturing, healthcare and security industries; Emerging Energy Technologies - technologies that can help the sustainable development of new and renewable energy sources; Zero Emission Enterprise - developing new technologies to reduce or eliminate creation of wastes, find new ways to re-use and recover waste products, treatment of hazardous wastes, and finding new alternatives to landfill; and Validation of Complex Systems - aims to maximise the exploitation of complex assembly systems, especially useful in sectors such as automotive, aerospace and energy. Micro & Nanotechnology: Nano-structured materials technology - nanostructured materials that address security and crime prevention. [b:7537062bc0]Key dates: [/b:7537062bc0] Competition opens - Monday, 25th April 2005 Registering your intention to submit an application - Deadline Monday, 13th June 2005 Submission of completed application - Deadline Monday,20th June 2005 Further information about the Technology Strategy can be found at http://www.dti.gov.uk/technologyprogramme/open_comps.html The competition is open to industry and academia, including universities, other higher educational institutions, their spin-off companies and other research bodies. A national Technology Strategy & Programme was one of the recommendations of the Innovation Report, December 2003, and its role strengthened in the Government's 10-Year Science & Innovation Investment Framework, July 2004. The Technology Programme has funds of approximately £320 million over the period of 2005 to 2008, profiled to show an increase over the next three years to a level of £178 million per annum by 2007/08 following the recent Spending Review settlement. The Technology Strategy & Programme will guide government investment in UK and European R&D programmes. The Technology Strategy & Programme is a key initiative in the Government's innovation plans and its expert, business-led Board will identify and back key technologies where the UK industry can commercially take advantage. Last November the Prime Minister and Patricia Hewitt launched the DTI's 5-Year Programme 'Creating Wealth from Knowledge' with a new focus for the department on science, innovation and technology. It is available at http://www.dti.gov.uk/fiveyearprogramme.html Organisations interested in details of the Technology Programme or how to apply can find additional information at http://www.dti.gov.uk/technologyprogramme | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thanks a lot guys!! | Just want to say thanks very much for the number of responses, I wasnt expecting so many. I am in southfields (sw19) and am wondering if there are any meeting places near to where I live as I would really like to attend one. I have quite a few inventions and really belive that with a little guidence and some cash I could do extremely well with my ideas and think it would also be a brilliant idea if a group of inventors set up a company to help promote inventions, a company that I would be extremely proud to be a part of. Thanks again. nice to know that there are people that are willing to help me. Richard Cloete | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Thanks a lot guys!! | [quote:4fdb211b9e="Rickz21"]I have quite a few inventions and really belive that with a little guidence and some cash I could do extremely well with my ideas and think it would also be a brilliant idea if a group of inventors set up a company to help promote inventions, ... [/quote:4fdb211b9e] Trevor Baylis has already setup a company to do this called Baylis Brands, they were exhibiting at the British Invention Show 2004 - you basically pay them £100 + VAT to look at your idea and assess it and if they like it and it's unique and they think it has potential they'll help you to market it (or even manufacturer it yourself) and sell it. They then take a percentage of the income the invention brings in .. this approach means they only make money if you are also making money. http://tbf.websfor.org/tbb/home/home.asp This approach has proved very popular .. They've already had over 750 people send in their ideas in their first 6 months, and there is currently a 3 month waitinglist for them to get around to being able to assess new ideas. Although getting together with other inventors in a club for example would help you to refine your product before you make your first approach and also when you first file for a patent you have a crucial 12 month period where you pay no fees for an inital filing but then you've got only 12 months to sell your idea. What books have you read on inventing? I believe James Dyson has written a good book and an American chap called Harvey Reese has a very easy to read book all about licensing - which from the sounds of it is the way you want to go. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Thanks a lot guys!! | [quote:33ba0933f1="Rickz21"]I am in southfields (sw19) and am wondering if there are any meeting places near to where I live as I would really like to attend one.[/quote:33ba0933f1] I looked that up on Autoroute - shows that postcode comes under Wimbledon .. which certainly isn't hugely too far from Cyprus DLR Station where our club meetings are held once a month. I live in North West London and takes me about 4 or 5 train changes for me to get to Cyprus Station for the monthly meetings but I find the nights enjoyable and espacially enjoy listening to the experiences of inventors. From where I live it's over 30 miles to the club (by road) and for you it's about 17 miles (again by road) - although many train links cut through road sections and get you there quicker. The club / university of East London also arrange a lot of breakfast meetings from time to time - although for me I'm not a morning person :D | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| For people in the design or fashion industry there is a new service called Own It who run a lot of free courses on protecting your ideas and design. I've been to 2 of their events and they're pretty well run, I'd particularly recommend the event run by Margaret Briffa who does a really good job explaining about copyright, design rights, etc with real life examples. http://www.own-it.org For example just the first page of their events diary brings up the following : [size=9:f857bf0e39]Make money whilst you sleep: valuing, protecting and licensing in the digital industry Date: Tuesday 05 April 2005 Time: 6pm - 8pm Location: 01zero-one Westminster Kingsway College Soho Centre Peter Street London W1 0HS Booking: 8 of 60 places available Book now The digital industry is back into growth and that means an increasing amount of development being put into digital content, software, applications and solutions. If you are a creator and innovator in the digital industry then you need to know how to exploit your creativity and make sure that you protect your innovation before looking at the ways to make money from it. Full details... Back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Free trademark advice clinics Date: Thursday 07 April 2005 Time: 5pm - 6:30pm Location: The Patent Office Harmsworth House 13-15 Bouverie Street London Booking: http://www.itma.org.uk/news-events/press-releases/press-view.php?id=109&date=27%20Jan The Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys is offering free advice clinics on setting up a trade mark and providing advice on design rights and copyright. The first session will be held on 3 March, with additional clinics held on the first Thursday of each month. Full details... Back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How not to get ripped off Date: Thursday 14 April 2005 Time: 6 – 8 pm (With drinks and networking from 8pm) Location: Guardian Newsroom - Archive and Visitor Centre 60 Farringdon Road London EC1R 3GA Booking: 40 of 90 places available Book now This Own It event will offer a basic guide to the law, covering the steps any creative professional should take in order to stop somebody else stealing or otherwise using your work without your permission. Full details... Back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photographers: the rights and wrongs of photographing people in public Date: Tuesday 19 April 2005 Time: 5pm - 7pm Location: Association of Photographers 81 Leonard Street London EC2A 4QS Booking: Fully booked Photographing the public, in public places, on beaches and in bus queues is a very common creative activity - but do you actually have the right to do it? And what are the rights of those being photographed? This Own It event will concentrate on what you can and cannot photograph outside the confines of the studio, the ins and outs of model and property releases and how you manage these contracts. Full details... Back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Making money from intellectual property licensing Date: Tuesday 26 April 2005 Time: 6-8pm Location: The Patent Office Harmsworth House 13-15 Bouverie Street London EC4 Followed by drinks and food at the Witness Box pub, just by The Patent Office Booking: Fully booked Own It and Ideas 21 are celebrating World IP Day by showing you how to make money and then taking you to the pub! As any inventor knows only too well, good ideas alone won’t make your fortune. For many inventors and creative businesses, licensing intellectual property is the best way forward and can offer many advantages. This event will cover the following areas of IP licensing: What is a licence? How do you negotiate a licence? Can you ask a licensee for an up-front payment? How much should the royalty be? Should a royalty decrease (or increase) with volume? How do you find and choose a licensee? What are the dangers of licensing and how can they be minimised? Full details... Back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Patent workshop: has someone got there before me? Date: Wednesday 27 April 2005 Time: 2:30 to 5pm Location: The British Library 96 Euston Rd London NW1 2DB Booking: Fully booked You’ve got an innovative idea for a product, you want to patent it – but has someone done it before you? A repeat of our previous, highly popular hands-on workshops at the British Library, this event will cover basic patenting procedure, choosing a database, good searching techniques and a practice search session. Full details... Back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Value your work – make more money Date: Tuesday 03 May 2005 Time: 6.15 - pre-event drink, 6.30 to 8pm, 8 - 9pm - after event drinks Location: The Design Council 34 Bow Street London WC2E 7DL Booking: 41 of 70 places available Book now What do photographers, illustrators, inventors, and software programmers do that designers don't? They retain the rights to their work rather than selling it wholesale, and they know how to realise more value from their intellectual property. They achieve this by licensing, charging royalties, registering patents, and selling directly. Full details... Back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Collaborative projects - who owns what? Date: Tuesday 10 May 2005 Time: 6:00 - 8:00 pm Location: Rootstein Hopkins Space London College of Fashion John Princes Street London W1 Booking: 59 of 110 places available Book now Visual artists, crafts practitioners and designer makers often undertake projects where they collaborate and work with other people. This event will explore who owns what in a collaborative project, what happens when it comes to selling collaborative work, or how do you sort out the intellectual property when a professional partnership splits up. You will need a basic understanding of intellectual property to benefit the most from this event. Full details... Back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trademark & Design Clinic Date: Wednesday 11 May 2005 Time: 3:00 - 5:00 pm Location: The British Library 96 Euston Rd London NW1 2DB Booking: http://www.bl.uk/collections/patents/clinic.html The clinic aims to help you understand what trade marks are, how the trade mark system works in the UK, the value of getting one for your product, and particularly how to find trade mark information. Full details... Back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IP in Europe: spreading the protection Date: Thursday 12 May 2005 Time: 5pm - 7pm Location: The Crafts Council, 44a Pentonville Road London N1 9BY Nearest tube, Angel (Northern Line) Buses include 4,19,30,38,73 Booking: Fully booked For any designer, showing, selling or pitching in Europe requires special know-how in order to protect your work and ideas. But registering for design rights and trademarks in Europe is a relatively easy process. This workshop will explain the procedure and outline the types of the protection you can get, together with an overview of which countries this protection covers. Full details...[/size:f857bf0e39] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paul - One of our club members has sent us in some great photos which we've now uploaded to the website http://www.eastlondoninventorsclub.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| once again thanks a lot | thanks so much for the rapid reply diamond. i am definately gona make the effort to get there. maybe see you there thanks again | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club Near You | Hi, The Kingston Round Table of Inventors has just started I will try and get some info for you and get back to you. It might be nearer to you than us. But feel free to come along to one of our meetings. From where you are the district line will take you to DLR and then on to Cyprus station which is in the UEL campus. cheers Terry Jennings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: The Freedom Ship | [quote:2d224ebccd="Diamond"]This is an inventive idea I saw proposed a few years ago, it called the freedom ship and the idea is to make use of the fact most of the earth is covered in water and build a huge ship so big that people can actually live and work on, as if it were a floating city. The ship would remain in constant motion and circle the earth every two years, with an airport runway on the top deck so planes could land and take off bringing with them tourists and visitors. A great idea, although raising financing and finding somewhere big enough to build it will be major challenges. http://www.freedomship.com [img:2d224ebccd]http://download77.com/freedomship/gallery/new/thumbnails/th_bow_low.jpg[/img:2d224ebccd] [img:2d224ebccd]http://download77.com/freedomship/gallery/new/thumbnails/th_rear_high.jpg[/img:2d224ebccd][/quote:2d224ebccd] Its a floating block of flats. I am not sure I would like to live on a boat, but the idea is certainly different. Mikeym | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In my opinion the simpler the idea and the less work required to make it should make it easier to manufacturer. The paperclip fits into that category. I mean just imagine the inventor making a prototype. After the initial thought it probably took about er...... 20 seconds to making the inventor to millions and probably stills is ... ( I suppose I owe it to him/her to look up there name out of admiration). But and this is a big BUT. I think the cats eyes are ingenious. I heard the story from a friend (this maybe made up, so correct if I am wrong) The inventor of the cats eyes came up with the idea after nearly hitting a wall after driving home drunk from the pub . He only missed the wall because his headlights caught the eyes of a cat. The gentlemen setup a small shed as factory and invited his friend to help design, and manufacture the invention. FANTASTIC. If it is true, the you have to admire that, if not .... then I believe my friend should apply for a job on Jackanory. :wink: Coming back to the cats eyes in America. This is a clever adaption. I believe there is a stretch of road up in the north known as a black spot for accidents due to ice on the road during winter months. They are currently working on a project where the cats eyes on the that stretch of road change to blue when the tempatutre falls to icy conditions. However if I am wrong or dreamt it....... Then maybe I should have a job on Jackanory. Mikeym. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I have an idea | Hi, I was wondering does anybody know how to approach a company with your idea, for example, I have an idea which I believe could have a market for the DIY enthusiast. It is new idea and I only thought of it this morning, so I have not done any reaseach. I would like to approach a company like B&Q (I know they make there own tools etc) so maybe they would be interested. Does anyone know the procedures? has anyone done it and been successful? Am I mad .... No, don't answer that one. Any info. greatly appreciated. Thanks Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [quote:ac5f2538de="mikeym"]In my opinion the simpler the idea and the less work required to make it should make it easier to manufacturer. The paperclip fits into that category. I mean just imagine the inventor making a prototype. [/quote:ac5f2538de] Well if you look at any CD ROM drive in a PC they're all made with a tiny hole .. designed to have a opened up paperclip inserted should the tray every get stuck!!! .. so it just shows how universal the paperclip is that another invention can rely on it as it's main method of repair!! I saw the same Ice warning Cat's Eye Device on TV but done by a UK Fireman I think .. changes colour with tempreture to warn of black ice and has a solar cell on the top to recharge and has LED's to be seen from a great distance ... in fact our Chairman has an invention that is also a similar type of Road Safety device, maybe he'll put a link to a picture on it. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: I have an idea | [quote:26a8dd0e5f="mikeym"]I was wondering does anybody know how to approach a company with your idea, for example, I have an idea which I believe could have a market for the DIY enthusiast. It is new idea and I only thought of it this morning, so I have not done any reaseach. [/quote:26a8dd0e5f] Is the idea for a new product (i.e. something you can hold in your hands), a New Service or a New Procedure? It's hard to offer advice without knowing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| approaching a company | Hi Mike The first thing you do before approaching anyone is to check if your idea has been done before. This way you won't waste your time and their's. Go to the British Library and do a search the people at the library are most helpful and will point you in the right direction. Search the internet under the type of tool you have an idea on. If you come up with a blank then you are part way there. Next file a patent application this is free. When you receive a receipt of filing then and only then can you approach a company with the idea. Most companies in this field will want to see a working prototype. This is where inventor clubs can help they will know ways to help you get a prototype made. As for B&Q they only buy from other manufacturers they do not make any themselves. Remember B&Q is part of the Woolworth group. A smaller specialist tool maker is your best bet, let them sell to whoever. Hope this helps and the best of luck Terry Jennings ELIC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hi, I was told I could have some protection for my idea If I made a detailed drawing, sealed in a envelope then sent it to me recorded post. Could someone tell me if this is true? If not is there any other way to protect it. I have few ideas but I am not sure what I will try to market first. I also could not afford to patent all of them. Thanks Mikeym. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thanks for the advice Terry. Can I ask how I become a member? Thanks Mikeym. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [quote:4d6aadd024="mikeym"]I was told I could have some protection for my idea If I made a detailed drawing, sealed in a envelope then sent it to me recorded post. Could someone tell me if this is true? [/quote:4d6aadd024] Well you'd have to be like in a court of law and open it infront of witnesses, etc to prove what's in there - so you'd have to ask yourself why are you in court in the first place? It certainly doesn't hurt to post a sealed letter to yourself under recorded delivery - I've done it myself. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: I have an idea | [quote:2395541611="Diamond"]Is the idea for a new product (i.e. something you can hold in your hands), a New Service or a New Procedure? It's hard to offer advice without knowing.[/quote:2395541611] Yes Diamond it is a new product. I will need to check the web. But I have not seen it in the shops because I know I would have bought one. Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [quote:418dac2db2="Diamond"]Well you'd have to be like in a court of law and open it infront of witnesses, etc to prove what's in there - so you'd have to ask yourself why are you in court in the first place? It certainly doesn't hurt to post a sealed letter to yourself under recorded delivery - I've done it myself.[/quote:418dac2db2] Thanks Diamond I will do that then. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper dies | [quote:03d72d079c="Anonymous"] So, what do you think? Was he successful?[/quote:03d72d079c] Partly successful I suppose, but I have to admit Diamond has a point about whether it would be worth the effort. I suppose 10 and 20 million is worth some of the stress, but there was always the element of risk. I am sure there are stories of people taking large organisations to court and losing. Sometimes legal costs could be so high. However if you have an idea why should you allow others to take away from you. You have been blessed with the idea and no one has the right to it. (especially the large organisations) who like to bully others because they know the can. I am happy to here when the lose. Because of the costs payed out by these large companies, then in this apsect he was successful. But is it about the money? Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: approaching a company | [quote:b92bc36ae9="Terry_Jennings"] A smaller specialist tool maker is your best bet, let them sell to whoever. Hope this helps and the best of luck[/quote:b92bc36ae9] Hi Terry, Since your last reply I have sent an email to B&Q. I have asked them what manufacturer they use and whether they would be interested in my idea. However I do have a dilemna. I am not quite sure how to describe it, so I can check to see if it already exists. I appreciate all your help and support yourself and members have given me. Heres looking to the future Cheers. Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Inventive Movies | [quote:cc78a9c345="Diamond"]Anyone know of an invention related movies if so post here. Watching movies is often a good way to pick up new ideas and also see how others tackled certain problems. I highly recommend any of the films mentioned below. For more details on any see www.imdb.com I can think of only Four - but I'm sure there's lots more[/quote:cc78a9c345] I am not sure about movies but I believe programs like The Great Egg Race. ScrapHeap Challenge Tomorrows World. Blue Peter (the things you can do with stick back plastic) :wink: And does anybody remember that program with the mad inventor What was his name................ I think it was Wilf Lunn. Anybody remember the name of that program? Or am I showing my age: AGAIN. Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Patent Costs | [quote:1305c292b6="Kevin_Smith"]How much do patents cost and how long do they last for?[/quote:1305c292b6] Speaking of patents does anyone know how to use patent search. I have tried to use Espacenet.com and European patents. I am not sure how to describe my idea or how to use it. Any thoughts? Mikem. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Patent Costs | [quote:7fdbd70fad="mikeym"][quote:7fdbd70fad="Kevin_Smith"]How much do patents cost and how long do they last for?[/quote:7fdbd70fad] Speaking of patents does anyone know how to use patent search. I have tried to use Espacenet.com and European patents. I am not sure how to describe my idea or how to use it. Any thoughts? Mikem.[/quote:7fdbd70fad] A good way to start a search to see if anyone has come up with your idea it to use Google first and search using their normal search, image search and even groups search. Some inventors are quite sneaky when filing their patient - making them hard to find - for instance I saw a recent patent for a car related product where the car was described as a horseless carriage :D As far as my understanding of patents goes though even if someone has patented an idea, if yours has some kind of improved over it then you can still be patentable. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Just For Fun - Needle in a Haystack | I saw this today on the discovery channel - They gave two team a haystack and 4 needles to find - 3 were metal and of various sizes and one needle was an old fashioned one made from bone. Their task was to invent a machine to process the hay and extract the 4 needles - the solutions were very interesting .. so any thoughts on how you'd tackle the task of seperating out needles from a haystack? [img:0ead1b67d4]http://www.sprintsales.co.uk/images/needle_haystack.jpg[/img:0ead1b67d4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Egg Races are actually something that takes place at various schools and universities in the UK http://www.ukgameshows.com/index.php/The_Great_Egg_Race http://www.solent.ac.uk/eggrace/default.asp?level1id=11955&level2id=11963 http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=10766 I'm sure the University of East London may even be interested in doing one if they don't already, always a good laugh and a way to get students thinking outside of the box | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| needle in haystack | I'd set the haystack on fire! Ha ha | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Next Step | what does one do after thinking of an invention and then doing some research? prototyping? patents? generating interest? marketing? I think we need to make we need to make that kind of information more known to the public. oh ya and i am asking... cos im not sure. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| needle in haystack | Hey they could make a kind of a 'sweeper' with magnets at the bottom and uv lights around it. Magnets pick up metal needles and the uv light will cause the bone needle to luminess. Could add alittle rake bit on the back to sort the hay. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You're probably asking the most difficult question of all because your idea could be in any field and you need to assess if it the kind of thing you can think of and maybe produce yourself or maybe it's to big to do yourself. But basics are things like seeing if it's been patented and done before looking at the potential market for the product - if it will have repeat purchases, etc For example one of the guys at the British Inventors Show had invented a combined liquid soap dispenser and air freshener so as you pump for liquid soap it also releases a scent - you can now buy this in Tescos and I think some airlines will be using it on planes. This kind of product is good inthat it has many possible repeat purchases by loyal customers. Maybe you can give us an example of a real product that is similar to your idea but different so not to give your idea away then we can answer in relation to that | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I've just seen the video from my 73 year old Aunt's cruise - it's her 4th cruise now ... I'm sure there are a lot of retired people that if they clubbed together could raise the funds for such a ship!! :D I hope they do get to build it - after all the earth is mostly covered in water | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Invention TV Channel | Here's an idea - There seems to be a new channel on Sky TV every week - There's plenty of shopping channels, there's even a channel dedicated to virtual horse racing.... so why not an invention channel? Would certainly be an easy way for inventors to showcase their new ideas, sell direct to the public, stick on repeats of tomorrow's world, etc!! BTW .. here's a nice link to an Australian TV Channel http://www.abc.net.au/newinventors/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [quote:adbaffc5d6="Diamond"]Egg Races are actually something that takes place at various schools and universities in the UK[/quote:adbaffc5d6] You may not remember the Great Egg race. I believe it was presented by Heinz Wolf. Every week a group of people, and then would be given a task to make a vehicle to carry an egg safely. etc etc.. Mikeym. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| becoming a member | ya thats a good question and how much are the membership fee's? i am interested in joining. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Patent Costs | [quote:1d74613242="Diamond"]Some inventors are quite sneaky when filing their patient - making them hard to find - for instance I saw a recent patent for a car related product where the car was described as a horseless carriage :D As far as my understanding of patents goes though even if someone has patented an idea, if yours has some kind of improved over it then you can still be patentable.[/quote:1d74613242] Thanks Diamond. I could see this being a problem. To be honest I am not sure how to describe the idea I have. I will have to make a visit to The British Library I think. I have been speaking to a colleague about inventions today. He was intrigued. I think he is now thinking of ideas. Who knows he make come up with something a successful as the paperclip. Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [quote:6e88a5fe55="mikeym"][quote:6e88a5fe55="Diamond"]Egg Races are actually something that takes place at various schools and universities in the UK[/quote:6e88a5fe55] You may not remember the Great Egg race. I believe it was presented by Heinz Wolf. Every week a group of people, and then would be given a task to make a vehicle to carry an egg safely. etc etc.. Mikeym.[/quote:6e88a5fe55] Oh Yeah I do remember him - I think that's where all the schools got the idea from - the closest we have to a competition like that today is Robot wars where people build their own battling robots. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paul has sent us some more photos taken over the weekend which have been added to the gallery | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Free Energy? is it possible? | where is everyone? No one got any topics? How about [b:5dcc4dbd2e][u:5dcc4dbd2e]free energy[/u:5dcc4dbd2e][/b:5dcc4dbd2e] Does anyone think it is possible to create perpetual motion and harness its energy? I do. I have come up with quite a few ideas but if i doubt i'll ever see one of them on the market! My favourite is using magnets but many people say that the magnets would eventually come to a hault. But if configured right then that will only happen in about 700 years. I can think of a way to harness gravity too. What's your thoughts? Anyone else got any suggestions? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| free energy | Hi In the 1960s I submitted an idea to British Government to produce energy from natural means in several places around the British Isles. They were receptive but did not take it any further. However the idea I proposed back in the 60s is now being built in the Bristol Channel. When it's finished I will then tackle the powers that be with my evidence from the 60s. I know it won't do any good but at least I may get some form of recognition. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: needle in haystack | [quote:ea1213b52e="Rickz21"]hey they could make a kinda 'sweeper' with magnets at the bottom and uv lights around it. [/quote:ea1213b52e] I am still thinking on this one. I would have thought the magnets would had to be quite powerful. A question I have to ask - was the hay loose or in a solid block? Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Has anyone reached the market place with thier invention? | Hi, I have to ask, because I am new to the club. I have spoken to a few people regarding their inventions but they haven't reached the market place yet? Has anyone been succesful with their inventions? Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non disclosure agreement | Does anyone know the correct way to create a Non-Disclosure agreement please. Any website downloads? Thanks Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Needles in Haystack | Just to prove it could be done I would use a powerful magnet to remove the steel needles and then send in the dog for the bone one The other way round the dog might have got hurt. Terry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non disclosure agreement | If you come along and join our club then you will get a membership pack which contains a NA plus much more useful information. However if you are ready for one then I could scan the pack one and email it to you. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reaching the market place | Yes I have reached the market place with my safety triangle which has been licensed to a Branch of Lucas. Prior to licensing we produced and distributed ourselves | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| thats awsome | Terry you are the man! i wish i could get 1 of mine on the market then i wouldnt have to work my rubish job for less than £10kpa! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Non disclosure agreement | [quote:b1844c364d="Terry_Jennings"]If you come along and join our club then you will get a membership pack which contains a NA plus much more useful information.[/quote:b1844c364d] Thanks Terry. I have been to the first meeting. I would like to know how to join the club? Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Reaching the market place | [quote:f713cbe764="Terry_Jennings"]Yes I have reached the market place with my safety triangle which has been licensed to a Branch of Lucas. Prior to licensing we produced and distributed ourselves[/quote:f713cbe764] Congratulations Terry. I would be interested to see that. Do you have a link? Can I ask how long this had taken approximately? Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: needle in haystack | [quote:c7ed1379f9="mikeym"][quote:c7ed1379f9="Rickz21"]hey they could make a kinda 'sweeper' with magnets at the bottom and uv lights around it. [/quote:c7ed1379f9] I am still thinking on this one. I would have thought the magnets would had to be quite powerful. A question I have to ask - was the hay loose or in a solid block? Mikeym.[/quote:c7ed1379f9] It was in a huge pile and then some girl dived in and hid the metal and bone needles somewhere inside the stack... but they were allowed to take the stack apart for sorting. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Text Talk and Topic Titles | Please post questions and responses on this forum in real English not Mobile phone Text Talk. A lot of time and effort has gone into the creation of this website and forum so we can all share our knowledge, and I'd certainly appreciate it if people kept the site looking as professional as possible. Also some of our club members are legally registered as blind and maybe using special computer software to read out the postings on this site and therefore SMS Text Messaging Talk may be hindering their ability to enjoy the use of this resource. Also try and make sure the titles you create for each new post are meaninful as when people come to search onthe sit for information it will be these titles that give them the clue of where to look for certain answer. Please also avoid typing entire sections in UPPERCASE letters and try and space out your messages into paragraphs so they are easier to read and follow. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: becoming a member | [quote:abb6fcbaee="Rickz21"]ya thats a good question and how much are the membership fee's? i am interested in joining.[/quote:abb6fcbaee] That particular question is answered in the site's FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Section on the left side of the screen under the main menu. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Safety Triangle | I started on the first triangle back now in 1994 after nearly being hit by a passing car in Belgium when changing a tyre at night. I made 2 prototypes 1 for me and 1 for the wifes car. I approached a company in the lake district called MAR L and they had it for some time. They returned it to be several months later saying it was not something they would be interested in. However MAR H the factory next door had an exact copy made in the far east to my drawings and started to import it into UK. MAR L said they had nothing to do with it and I could not prove otherwise. We kept our units in our cars for our own safety until in November 1998 when 2 police officers, an Rac patrolman and member, and a recovery driver were killed on the south end of the M11 near our home in three separate incidents. We then decided that we coould not sit on it any longer and I took the prototypes along to a large recovery company here in East London and showed them my idea. They took the 2 units and tested them over night the next morning they asked if I could make 30 units for their lorries. Thus came the second prototype much better than the first 2. I asked them for feedback on the units and what benefits they were to them. The results were very promising and we decided to spend our savings and start to manufacture finished article. The first run of safety triangles came off the production line in April 2000. Just prior to this we were chosen to exhibit I device in the Dome but as we were not producing by October 1999 we were left out. We went on to be nominated for 'Invention of the Year' by Nat West bank and Recorder Newspaper. I became runner up for'Businessman of the Year' and we went on to win 'Euroward' regional finals. By this time it had been noticed by 'Tommorows World' 'The Big Breakfast' 'Whats the big idea' and Channel 4 Breakfast show. All of these tv programmes showed our little device and whilst at one of them a product promotor said he could get this to a wider market. Hence the license agreement with a branch of Lucas. During the time we were manufacturing ourselves we sold to 7 overseas companies. Small trial orders I admit but at least it was getting seen. We signed the agreement with Lucas because we could see production going out of the window and we would not be able to cope with the demands. Since Lucas have had it they have sat on it and not tried very well to sell it. So we are looking into ways of overcoming this. Thats the story behind our triangle. However we have another aspect at the moment being tooled up for the rail industry. We also have been partnered by a Swedish Company for an Eureka project and this is underway at the moment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: approaching a company | [quote:a31cbae49d="I "]Since your last reply I have sent an email to B&Q.[/quote:a31cbae49d] UPDATE: I did receive an answer and they advised they would send my mail to the correct department. No news is good news I suppose. I would not say I would go down this route, just interested to know though. So what about an idea which could improve business sales or productivity. Let me explain: For a few years now I have had an idea for Argos which could have helped cut down queues. Maybe they wouldn't be interested. Can someone tell me how I could approach the company with the idea. Why my approach you may ask. I did here someone had an idea regarding matches. He approached a large manufacturer advising he could save the company money. I believe they came to some deal. His money saving approach was to only produce 1 strike pad instead of two....... Now I don't know if this is true and yes you may not class this as an invention, but if it saves the company money, time and materials it has to benefit everybody. Any ideas please? Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This is quite an interesting problem as it mirrors a lot of the problems faced when working with development partners on a project. Basically, the brief given for the solution is both too wide and too narrow. It is too wide because it gives no idea of how much time or money is available to spend on designing, building and operating the machine, what volume of hay the machine will have to sort per day, what environment the machine will operate in, what condition the needles & hay should be when finished .....etc...etc...etc... It is too narrow because a machine may not be the best solution to extracting the needles from the hay...we need to know more! To illustrate the point, I have three possible solutions: 1) Put the hay onto an agitator belt or drum and remove the hay by vacuum to a collection vessel leaving the heavy needles behind. 2) Throw the whole lot into a swimming pool and the needles will sink to the bottom for collection. 3) Put everything into a container and send it to India or China where a factory will sort through the hay and remove the needles by hand for about 50p an hour. Three very different solutions which may all work depending on the time and money available to find a solution, the value of the end product, the location of the users of the end product..etc...etc...etc.... These questions are really important when an inventor tries to explain their idea to development partners or manufacturers because the answers will dictate the end result. Always worth keeping an open mind, but very difficult getting people to work from a blank sheet of paper. Garry. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Anything is possible. However, the last I heard was that the Patent Office have stopped accepting patent applications for perpetual motion devices unless they can be demonstrated. Garry. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [quote:bbd7ec9da2="Diamond"]You're probably asking the most difficult question of all because your idea could be in any field and you need to assess if it the kind of thing you can think of and maybe produce yourself or maybe it's to big to do yourself. But basics are things like seeing if it's been patented and done before looking at the potential market for the product - if it will have repeat purchases, etc[/quote:bbd7ec9da2] I am now realising this is no easy task. I appreciate nothing worthwhile is easy. I suppose it is so much easier to leave the idea in my head and dream what may have been. Sorry guys at the moment I am feeling a little negative about the whole thing, but I believe I am in the best place with the club. My next step will be to take a trip to The British Library. I have not been able to find anything similar on the web (I do know that doesn't mean there isn't one already). To be honest I would be very suprised if my idea hasn't been thought before. I only thought of it myself on Sunday. Maybe I have seen it somewhere subconciously. Mikeym. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Non disclosure agreement | [quote:d3c9ce174f="Terry_Jennings"]If you come along and join our club then you will get a membership pack which contains a NA plus much more useful information. However if you are ready for one then I could scan the pack one and email it to you.[/quote:d3c9ce174f] Terry, You mentioned I should make a trip to The British Library to check the patents for my idea. Thanks for the advice. I have since found an example through your website. I would like to ask - should I ask for the members of the library to sign a Non-disclosure agreement. Thanks Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [quote:ab29fb24f6="Garry_Moore"]This is quite an interesting problem as it mirrors a lot of the problems faced when working with development partners on a project. Basically, the brief given for the solution is both too wide and too narrow.[/quote:ab29fb24f6] Interesting points Garry made. I must admit I am not really very good at problem solving, so I am finding it very difficult to comment. However I do believe the idea regarding vacuums are very sensible approach. What I would like to say though - when designing a new invention I was advised to make it simple, not involve complicated electronics or mechanical devices. So when I think of any idea I make sure I do just that. For example: the post-it note. I know you can not make it that simple in the example set by Diamond. But try to make it simple as possible I believe. Mikeym. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| needle in haystack | I think that we are missing the fact that they were required to come up with a machine and not a method. There aren't many ways to solve this problem as the bone needle see's to that. If they had set it on fire then the bone needle may have burnt and if they threw it into the swiming pool then the bone needle would float with the hay. I can only think that two different devices combind together would solve this problem. Maybe there are some things that machines are unable to do. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terry's triangle | It's really good to know that it can be done. And it's even better to be able to speak with someone that has done it! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Terry's triangle | [quote:501821c451="Rickz21"]It's really good to know that it can be done. And it's even better to be able to speak with someone that has done it![/quote:501821c451] I agree it is good know someone has achieved this, but it depends on the backing and help received.I believe Trevor Bayliss had real problems convincing the powers to be about his wind up radio. He percivered and achieved the impossible. I am hoping we all learn by the problems encounter and it is made easier. I will certainly learn by the problems Terry has encountered. Mikeym. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trevor's big break came when his invention was shown on Tomorrow's World .. I'm not sure how long he was trying before this to get his invention off the ground. I'm also wondering why Tomorrow's World has been cancelled - they said ratings dropped but everyone I know loved the show. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| There is also such a thing as timing being right for an idea or invention - I thought of an idea for a software programe in 1999 but you needed an internet connection to make it work. Back in 1999 there was no such thing as ADSL in the UK and dial up was slow and expensive about 4p a minute to use. 5 / 6 years later I see no one has done the idea I came up with and certainly the biggest player inthe UK isn't using the idea I thought of and no with Broadband having took off there is now ore scope then ever for my idea to be accepted and adopted by business and the public. I'm now looking into find the programming team to make it happen (C++ Programmer BTW) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [b:b3d0019d49]Top 10 Patent Myths[/b:b3d0019d49] http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,296849,00.html [i:b3d0019d49]Your brilliant idea needn't fall by the wayside simply because you don't want to deal with the patent process. We've shattered the top 10 myths so you can see your way clear to patenting your product.[/i:b3d0019d49] [b:b3d0019d49]Entrepreneur's Start-Ups magazine - February 2002 [/b:b3d0019d49] [size=9:b3d0019d49]By Jasmine Pui [/size:b3d0019d49] Given that most businesses aren't built on truly original ideas, patents can seem like more trouble than they're worth. However, integrating patents into your business plan, regardless of whether you're an inventor, is one of the most overlooked elements of a successful business. Freelance licensing agent (read: Mr. I Know All About Patents So You Can't Fool Me) Stan Weston gives us an idea of how important patents can be. He came up with the G.I. Joe action figure idea, and Hasbro offered Weston a choice of either $100,000 or $50,000 upfront, with a 1 percent royalty once sales passed $7 million. Weston chose the $100,000—and lost out on an estimated $20 million in royalties over the next 30 years. While you may not see such drastic differences in earnings, there are 10 myths about patents that may be holding you back from getting the most out of the concept that got your business started in the first place. [b:b3d0019d49]Myth 1: [/b:b3d0019d49]The narrowing of equivalents makes it more difficult to get investors on my side. Reliable, leading venture capital firms and lending institutions bring on board consultants with excellent technical knowledge to pick out good business plans. When you come to the table with a patent-pending idea that's been well-researched and profits projected, you're more likely to be taken seriously, even if you don't have all the connections with the big players as a newly minted entrepreneur. "I believe investors or lenders are very impressed by patent protection. Seldom will an angel invest in a project that does not offer patent protection," said Jack Lander, president of the United Inventors Association, vice president of the Yankee Invention Exposition and founder of the Inventor's Bookstore. [b:b3d0019d49]Myth 2: [/b:b3d0019d49]Since it's becoming difficult to avoid infringement regardless of what niche I'm in, I'm better off not taking a patent to advertise my company as bait. True, if you took out a patent for a rocking chair, you're possibly infringing on a patent someone else took out for a chair. That's why the claims section of the patent is so important. It has to be worded carefully and with the help of a patent lawyer so that you actually end up having more protection from infringement lawsuit bounty hunters than you would without a patent. [b:b3d0019d49]Myth 3: [/b:b3d0019d49]There's absolutely no competition out there for my business plans, so there's no sense in spending money to patent any part of it. There is always competition out there. There may be no similar technology, but there are many things that can perform the same function. Take the humble aluminum washboard. They didn't just disappear when washing machines came on the market, and in many ways, washboards are preferable to their mechanized counterparts. One of the most beneficial things an entrepreneur can do to continually outpace the competition is to trade marketing strategies, customer-retention ideas and tips with other entrepreneurs--in different sectors, of course. Patents give you an excuse to participate in inventors-entrepreneurship conferences, which is a great way to schmooze and get ideas you would never think of otherwise. [b:b3d0019d49]Myth 4: [/b:b3d0019d49]If the invention is "obvious to one skilled in the art," as the United States Patent and Trademark Office terms it, the patent won't be valid. Aren't you supposed to be an optimist? The specific wording of the claims in your patent is the key to patenting an idea that is already out there or "obvious." "Just about everyone who does a patent search is amazed at all the prior art that is identical, or nearly so, with his or her invention," says Lander. Take U.S. Patent 5,771,778, for example. Just about everyone knows how to make coffee, and that the smell of coffee is welcoming and makes clients feel at home. That "obvious" application didn't stop a coffee shop owner from filing a patent of "a device within a device, one part of which contains a sensor designed to emit an aroma when it senses a person's presence." So even a marketing idea that can be essential to a business can be patented if it's carefully worded. [b:b3d0019d49]Myth 5: [/b:b3d0019d49]It takes a long time to license a patent, and I want to have something to show by the second quarter next year. The USPTO recognizes the time delay and is trying to speed things up by eliminating paperwork wherever they can. Go to their Web site to apply online, do prior art searches and check on the status of your patent application. It may be too early for you to boast profits in your press releases, but you can talk about how you're different from competitors and why you're the leader in your industry by grace of your expertise. Officially, they're called "inchoate rights," otherwise known as bragging rights. You can use them once your patent is pending. Darrel Adamson, founder and president of Engrave-a-Crete, a manufacturer of decorative concrete systems, cemented his company's expertise and recognition from patent on up. "While I was waiting for the USPTO to process my first patent, I coined terms for cutting shallow designs and patterns in concrete that are now commonly used and quickly spreading. The terms 'engraved concrete' and 'concrete engraving' are now used [to describe] a type of decorative concrete." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [b:1b9e128b0e]Protecting Your Idea [/b:1b9e128b0e] http://www.entrepreneur.com/Your_Business/YB_Node/0,4507,665,00.html [size=18:1b9e128b0e]Editor's Picks[/size:1b9e128b0e] [b:1b9e128b0e]Copyrights, Trade Secrets and Patents [/b:1b9e128b0e] Knowing the differences between these complex areas of law can help you protect your ideas. [b:1b9e128b0e]Patent Holders Given Edge in Battle Against Infringers [/b:1b9e128b0e] Supreme Court decision eases inventors' burden of proving someone else has violated their patent rights [b:1b9e128b0e]Answers to 3 Tough Copyright Questions [/b:1b9e128b0e] When designing your marketing materials, take care not to rip anyone off in the process. [b:1b9e128b0e]The Risks of Sharing Your Idea [/b:1b9e128b0e] It's every entrepreneur's worst nightmare: Someone has stolen your idea. How can you really protect yourself? [b:1b9e128b0e]Inventing A to Z [/b:1b9e128b0e] Everything you ever wanted to know about making your big idea a marketable reality [b:1b9e128b0e]Using Others' Intellectual Property [/b:1b9e128b0e] Before you use someone else's copyrighted material, draft an agreement that benefits both of you. [b:1b9e128b0e]Top 10 Patent Myths[/b:1b9e128b0e] Your brilliant idea needn't fall by the wayside simply because you don't want to deal with the patent process. We've shattered the top 10 myths so you can see your way clear to patenting your product. [b:1b9e128b0e]“Oh, Yeah? Prove It!” [/b:1b9e128b0e]Bringing both sides of the patent issue together to find the truth about prior art [b:1b9e128b0e]When is Information Free? [/b:1b9e128b0e] In a free society, is publicly available information yours for the taking? [b:1b9e128b0e]Finding a Lawyer [/b:1b9e128b0e] Tips on finding reputable patent attorneys [b:1b9e128b0e]Registering Your Idea [/b:1b9e128b0e] Our Invention Protection Expert shows you the ins and outs of the Disclosure Document Program. [b:1b9e128b0e]Already Taken? [/b:1b9e128b0e] Think your idea is unique and original? Think again. Our Start-Up Legal Expert suggests doing your homework before taking your idea to market. [b:1b9e128b0e]It's a Secret [/b:1b9e128b0e]So keep it that way--protect your proprietary information. [b:1b9e128b0e]Keeping Secrets [/b:1b9e128b0e] Protecting your idea isn’t all fun and games. Our Invention Protection Expert tells you how to keep your ideas safe. [b:1b9e128b0e]Top Secrets [/b:1b9e128b0e] The newest way to keep trespassers off your intellectual property. [b:1b9e128b0e]In The Mix [/b:1b9e128b0e] How can you protect your secret recipe? [b:1b9e128b0e]Keep It Confidential [/b:1b9e128b0e] If you don't keep your company secrets under lock and key, your competitive edge might walk right out the door. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| London Inventing Event? | For those of you that are part of an inventing club you'll know how useful and informative it is to get together with people interested in inventing. And this was also the case when a lot of people interested in inventing got together from all over London for the Christmas Party Last Year. Some people even travelled down from the North of the UK for the event. So I was thinking what about a regular Inventing Event? Maybe held every 2 or 3 months where people from various inventing clubs can get together with others who are interested in inventing. Perhaps an after work event like an informal drink in a pub with a private room, or a dinner. or even a half day event somewhere on a weekend? Could even have our own version of the great Egg Race and divide into teams to complete some kind of inventive task. Certainly for an after work function a good central Location would be nice near a tube station. What do people think? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduce Yourselves - Hello Everyone | [i:3e2cfc71cd]One of the great things about having an online messageboard / forum system is that it's open 24 hours a day - 7 days a week so we can all meetup on here in the spare moments we have and throw around ideas and debates and if any of us do then get the chance to meet at an event or club meeting we already know what interests, experience and expertise we all have to offer in helping each other.[/i:3e2cfc71cd] I thought it would be useful therefore to have a section where we at least get the chance to introduce ourselves to the other members online and tell each other a little about ourselves. If you want to start a thread to tell us about yourself then please use the [color=blue:3e2cfc71cd][b:3e2cfc71cd]New Topic button [/b:3e2cfc71cd][/color:3e2cfc71cd]and start a new thread. If you want to ask a member quetions about themselves then press reply. For myself, my name is Diamond. My background has been mainly in IT and project Management. I've worked for some big companies like BT, Xerox, etc but also small companies like a Dot Com which was a lot of work including a lot of long out of office hours, but also a lot of fun and very rewarding to be able to see your ideas put into action and making a difference. My ideas at the Dot Com company saved them in the region of £200,000 and tripled their new customer sign up's overnight. Even more striking was being part of a two man team that was able to put together a better computer system for the company in 2 weeks then their original supplier who had 5 months to complete the same task with a team of 10 guys and £500,000+ to spend (BTW their system crashed after 3 days and ours ran for about a year until the company went bust in the DotCom downturn). As far as inventing goes I come to the group with a lot of different ideas for products and services and am always seeing new ways to make products better, espacially cookery products. So for myself my main route to market would most likely be to license some of my ideas to manufacturers. I joined the club around October 2004 as I think the creation of an inventors club is a great idea, as inventing is one of the few professions for which there is no formal training available (unless you know of something?) and it's really hard to know where to go to get help. I think the club would certainly be stronger if members were willing to share their skills to help each other and to this extent my first steps to do something positive to help the club was to volunteer to create a website for them, which is what you see here .. and also explains why you'll probabaly see my name on here a lot, but hopefully you'll all start posting lots and we'll start seeing many others on here. :D | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Invention Promotion Companies | [quote:ea826643a8="Terry_Jennings"][b:ea826643a8]Invention Promotion Companies[/b:ea826643a8] If however thay have advertisments on TV or in the press then be vary cautious of such companies as these people usually charge a large fee payable in advance and then sign a non-disclosure agreement. Which means they then cannot promote your invention as they have signed that they won't. The majority of these rip off companies seem to originate in the USA although I have heard of one recently trading in Ireland. Majority of inventors are not rich so these preditors pray on loan inventors.[/quote:ea826643a8] I think you mean ITE Terry. I happen to get done by those B#######. At least they have stopped advertising for the moment after appearing on WatchDog. this year. Mikeym | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inventor events | I think thats a great idea! Maybe even something like a round of golf followed by a lunch. I work a the Royal mid-Surrey Golf Club in Richmond and could proberly get some good discounts although it may a bit out of the way for most of you people. just a thought... but I definately think that we should set something up as iI think it would also be better to speak in person and discuss our ideas. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discussing ideas with fellow members. | I was just wondering if when joining we have to sign a statement, stating that we will not use any of the information given to us regarding thier invention/s? And then is there a kind of a log for who attends which meetings on which day? Just asking because although all of you seem very sincere, I just don't think I would feel at ease discussing my ideas without some sort of protection. I'm sure you understand. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yes you do sign a Non Disclosure Agreement and they do also take note of who attends which meeting and even last time we had to sign an additional register too. There's also been extra meetings held after the main club meet where fully paid up members only are invited to stay so they can discuss their ideas. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Inventor events | [quote:77e1fa5af9="Rickz21"]I work a the Royal mid-Surrey Golf Club in Richmond and could proberly get some good discounts although it may a bit out of the way for most of you people.[/quote:77e1fa5af9] I checked on Autoroute and the golf club is only 0.14 Miles from Richmond Underground Tube Station in a straight line or 0.3 miles by road, so that's pretty close. That's would certainly make a fun sounding weekend event, not sure how much the costs would be but maybe you can find out and PM me. Whenever I do an informal after work drink I usually pick the Metropolitan Bar at the corner or Marylebone Road and Baker Street because it sits right on to of Baker Street Tube Station, which itself has 5 different train lines running to it and Marylebone Station nearby has many British Rail Links to All over the UK. I can't remember where the Inventors Christmas do was held in London (not the club one which was at the university of East London) but it was pretty hard to find the place. Nonetheless it was good to meet lots of people interested in inventing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terry Jennings Chairman | As Chairman of the club I thinks I should give a profile. I started Inventing at about the time ITV started. We, at home, only had 1 channel TV, BBC only. As a kid I decided that I would make a converter so that we could get ITV. At This time I belonged to an Amateur Radio Club and had the good fortune to be shown round Logie Bairds Workshop on the top of Plesseys Factory in Ilford. Being a member of this club gave me access to a lot of members who were electronically minded. I took an old OXO tin and mounted coils, valves and a Transformer and made a TV converter. I was very proud of this and it worked well. It looked awful and my Dad would not let me hook it up to TV. (Looking back I now realise why). However I came home from school one day early and hooked up my OXO tin and me and Mum watched ITV for the first time. Unlucky for me DAD also came home early and I had no time to unhook my tin. I made myself scarce and Dad had his tea, during this, the adverts came on, and he appeared not to notice them. Well at least for a few minutes he then let out a roar "Where is he I'll Kill Him" I came back into room and told him that I would get rid of my tin the next day. He told me to leave it and sat and watched ITV all night. Next day when he came home from work he asked me if I could make 8 more? In fact we eventually made 27 of them. Aerials were also very expensive but when you worked out the frequency needed for a DI-Pole aerial it was 27.5" Mum had 27" brass stair rods on the stairs so with the 1/2" air gap needed mum lost all of her stair rods. Later when I started work in factory in Dagenham reel to reel tape recorders were just coming in. So as recordings with a mike were very noisy and everyone had to be quiet, I decided to adapt and old Crystal set circuit to make a radio adaptor which plugged into mike socket. We made over 100 of these using Golden Virginia tobacco tins resprayed in the factory paint shop. This started me on the path to inventions or at least adapting and modifying as the need arrived. I never thought of patenting any of these ideas until later in life. When I got married my wife used to carry a large can of hair laquer to dances to keep her hair tidy and so did most of our friends. I looked at this and decided to see if I could fill up the small aerosol perfume bottles that were empty. I managed this with the use of butane fuel adapters for lighters. I took this along to a large hair dressing laquer manufacturers who looked at it and told me it would never sell. 3 months later I saw the very thing in hairdressing salons. I then contacted all leading womans magazines and gave them to way to do it yourself. The article was published in several magazines. The M/D of the company I approached rang me up and asked me if I was trying tp put him out of business? I replied YES. I then moved onto experimenting with an old answering machine, one with and endless tape as openi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||