I need a little help cause I honestly don't know which direction to go with this. Never had to do anything like this before. This is going to sound a little weird and dumb but please bear with me. I have had this idea on how to change the way a potato chip company packages there product for awhile now. When I mention this idea to people everyone is baffled by the simplicity and originality of it and how kool the idea is. It would not only help the company with their packaging but they could also use the new design as some really good advertising. Im not interested in designing the new details of the package Im just interested in selling them the idea. I live in the real world and understand the idea can be shoot down a million different ways. But I really think that I have something and so do a few others peeps who I have run the idea by. Which I understand doesn't mean shit. If I did want to try and sell this idea what steps would i need take. Since Im not really designing something would I still need a patent lawyer since it just the idea? Guessing I would need a lawyer of some type because I would need to protect myself against the idea getting stolen. Like I said I have no idea how these things work or where to even start. But I know Im not the first person who has sold a idea to a company before so there has to be somebody out there that helps people with these types of things. Just wondering if anybody has done this or knows somebody who has and what steps they took. Thanks in advance for all the help Dave
:tut: How shitty would that be if somebody came on the bbs for help and lost there idea and somebody ran with it and made millions lol. That would def make best of BBS thread!!!!!!
Step 1: Quit telling everyone your idea Step 2: Do a patent search Step 3: Give a boat load of money to a patent office Step 4: Once patented, try and sell your idea to a large company I'm not sure on the specifics on how to go about doing it, but I'm a designer that works with a lot of inventors. Pretty much every time it turns into one of two things: Their idea is very stupid, but they think it's the next greatest thing. They sign contracts with firms to develop their product, then they realize how stupid their idea is and break all contracts and don't pay a dime to the people who did all this work for them. Their idea is awesome, had it patented, but by the time the product is in the engineering stage, a large company has already knocked it off and is already on the market. Or a chinese manufacturer completely rips off your design and you can't do shit about it. Basically, you need to have a shit load of money to successfully turn an idea into a product before anybody else beats you to it.
When you said "When I mention this idea to people everyone is baffled by the simplicity and originality of it" I thought that meant that you didn't mind sharing your idea, as you have before. So go ahead, we're all ears
You def have me there. Cant argue my way out of that one. Guess I should have said when I mention it to family. Which isnt a fail safe idea either many of family members have screwed other members over before Im sure lol
Go with your idea. Talk to a patent attorney, since ideas are intellectual property and can be protected. Write down your idea, make a couple crude drawings, and mail the original to yourself. Then put that unopened envelope into a safe deposit box. That will exist to prove that it was your idea FIRST. That counts for a lot. My grandmother* had an idea for packing bananas during shipment, to prevent damage to the fruit. She went to the President of United Fruit company with her idea. They ran with the idea and did pretty good with it. *Her girlhood nickname was "Chiquita." The President of UFC was also her husband (my grandfather.) Now United Fruit company is called "Chiquita Brands. True story.
Not sure if it passed yet, it will soon if it hasn't, but they're changing the rules on patents. It has always been first to invent, but it will soon be first to file when they pass it. So it really won't matter if you came up with the idea, if you don't do shit to file for a patent, it's anyone's game to file for it.
http://blogs.wsj.com/in-charge/2011/04/01/house-takes-up-patent-reform/?mod=google_news_blog Looks like it already passed.
is it an accordian style canister so you can easily get to the chips at the bottom? bc i've already invented that in my head and you can't steal it from me.
1. DON'T publish your idea on the internet, or otherwise disclose it to relatives, family members or coworkers. 2. DON'T commercialize your invention by selling or offering for sale widgets which incorporate your invention. 3. DON'T work with an invention promotion company (the guys who advertise on TV at 2 AM). They will rip you off. 4. DO provide an enabling description of your invention in sufficient detail to permit one of ordinary skill to make and use your invention. Include drawings. 5. DO perform key word searches of your invention on the Patent Office databases. (www.uspto.gov). Print out relevant patents and pending applications, and decide whether there are significant differences between your idea and the prior art. Assuming there is some difference between your invention and the prior art, continue on to No. 6. 6. DO hire a patent attorney. Provide him with your description of your invention and the prior art patents you found. Inform him of the earliest dates you published or commercialized your invention. 7. DO have him perform a supplemental prior art search, and obtain his recommendation whether to proceed with filing a provisional patent application. Pay him handsomely. 8. AFTER the provisional application is drafted and filed in the Patent Office, open negotiations with relevant snack and food companies regarding the sale or license of your invention. Your welcome. THIS POST DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE, AND NO ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN CREATED. Have a nice day.
Create a copy of your head, and mail that to yourself. Then put that duplicate into a safe deposit box. That will exist to prove that it was your idea FIRST. That counts for a lot. -jim
