posted on September 20, 2002 07:44:55 PM new
You work though your life, and learn something no one else can do. what do you do???? Sell to someone who will make all the money?, keep it to yourself, you have no money? tell your best frind what it is, so he can do something? JUST GET DRUNK AND SAY F%%% IT.
posted on September 20, 2002 10:23:01 PM new
You're right... that's quite the dilema basketman.
I also have a quandry. I was watching Aaron Brown and wondering why his false teeth looked so fake. Can't they make false teeth that look like teeth and not a row of chicklets? And why do they call them false teeth? Nothing else is called that.
posted on September 21, 2002 06:01:52 AM new
no kidding, Ed McMahon has the same problem..looks like he needs a set of teeth about 2 sizes smaller...bet they click when he eats...
posted on September 21, 2002 07:13:42 AM new
basketman, #1 is to protect what you have,Put it on paper.If it is an object, draw a picture of the item with an explanation of how it works,Save a copy for an attorney.Mail yourself a copy,register it,
never open it,put it somewhere safe or in a safe.In fact having the paperwork notorized before mailing would be even better.Call a 800 number for the patent office in Washington,and ask for the forms for the type of patent or copy right for your idea.
It will take a couple of months to get a reply from the patent office for your submission.Then you are in a position to sell to someone,or tell a friend.
posted on September 21, 2002 06:20:36 PM new
prof - Yes, Ed too! Geez, his look like piano keys for heaven's sake.
That was my impression junquemama. I think he thought over his options and decided to just get drunk and say f%%% it. If I could do something nobody else in the world could do, I'd get drunk and swear also.
posted on September 21, 2002 09:02:59 PM new
File for a "Provisional patent" with the Patent Office. It only costs $80. It gives you some protection, but then you have only 12 months to file the regular patent. In that 12 months you can shop your options.
But patents aren't the be-all end-all for either protecting your ideas nor for making money. There are a huge amount of patents that set idle, some good ideas, some not so good. Many patent holders just set on the patent waiting for someone else to make the idea profitable, then they demand fees and/or a lawsuit.
And like copyrights, patents require that the owner enforce them him/herself. If you don't have the money to persue enforcement, you're SOL. And there any number of "brilliant" patents setting idle because no one has the money to exploit them.
The registered mail and notary technique won't do you any good as far as exclusivity. The only thing it might do is provide evidence of prior art against another later patent claim, which will do nothing to make the "idea" yours, but might prevent someone else from claiming exclusivity of the idea. The registered mail/notary thing has been an urban legend for a long time.
As the old saying goes "Anyone can come up with ideas, but the one that can sell them makes the millions".
Edited to Add: Bill Gates didn't invent DOS, he bought it from someone pretty cheap after being approached by IBM. If the stories can be believed, he paid $50K for it and packaged it for IBM.
posted on September 22, 2002 06:55:25 AM new
Reamond,
The old saying I heard was:Anyone can ask how to,The one with the answer,has the patent.
I would encourage someone to go forth with an idea,and save it anyway possible,document any dates. There are people making money from their ideas on the home shopping networks,Go to their home pages on the web.
There are investors,for the right idea.
If you have something close to someone elses
idea,You make changes to the design and wording.
A few years ago it was easy to give up going forward with your ideas,Not now.
posted on September 22, 2002 05:47:23 PM new
You can have 10,000 documents regarding your idea, and have them all noterized, and sent to you registered mail, but there is only one way to receive and perfect a patent and that is through filing it.
There are estimated to be in excess of 2 million patents with viable art that set idle, so much so that IBM started a site to try to get these ideas noticed.
In reality, using ideas is backwards from what many would have us believe. Make the market, if the market doesn't already exist, then patent the idea if you need to. Post-it notes are a good example, these were never patented. The waterbed was a good idea and patented, and the guy that owned tha patent fought for decades and went bankrupt fighting to enforce and license his patent. The boon market has came and went for waterbeds as have most of the businesses that made fortunes from waterbeds.
The market is a much harder egg to crack than getting a patent. You can file a patent for less than $1000. Try starting a business for under $1000.
eBay and Paypal both have patent infringement suits against them. Do you think either company filed patents first or did a search of patents before they started their businesses ? Both companies are setting on huge war chests to fight off, compromise, and/or out last any challenger.
Patent when you can or if you must, but it is wiser to make a few hundred million or several billion on it first.
posted on September 22, 2002 07:35:55 PM new
Reamond,The infringment patent suit was filed after ebay sent a letter to the man with the patent,Asking to buy his.
Hard to believe the man didnt know untill then, his patent(to buy& sell collectables on the internet)Had been used.I think the man had his patent in place 5 or 6 months before Omidyar started up ebay,and Mr.P
didnt bother to patent his Co.(he couldnt)
You probley right about the stealing of ideas
first and battle later.In this case,I think someone said prove to me you have the patent,probley another pending lawsuit.
Time will tell if the patent wins out,I believe it will.
That is probley why Meg has tried to change the selling venue at ebay since she took over the reigns.
Amazon did an about face,Ko inky dink ?
posted on September 22, 2002 08:06:30 PM new
The patent suit against eBay will go one of two ways. Either the guy will grant a reasonable settlement or eBay will fight tooth and nail for the next two decades to sap any resources this person might have to fight them.
The ironic thing is that eBay will be using money they made off of this guys patent to fight him.
eBay's lawyers are probably already telling the guy's lawyers to settle or the result will be a very long and very expensive court battle with an "unknowable" outcome.
But this guy's claim must have merit or eBay wouldn't have bothered notifying him or negotiating the issue.
But I guess the point is: Who, except a well heeled company, can afford to do a competent patent search before they start and build a business ? Obviously eBay didn't perform a diligent search until they had amassed billions.
posted on September 23, 2002 02:07:02 PM new
No, I didn't get drunk??? So how do you market your idea? Trough EBAY, no I don't think so. Wrong place, wrong time. Who will buy something from someone they don't know, for a price it is worth? (to make the money needed) Im still thinking it all over, I can allways die with it? As you all know, every ad you put in (EBAY, YAHO0) cost money. InCorperate. How, You have to have some kind of busness to start with? So where do you go? There is a lot of money out there, how do you find it? I know, no education, who will give you money. bookkeppers are a dime a dozzen, but no one knows what I can do!!
posted on September 23, 2002 03:06:14 PM new
basketman,Ive only had the copyrights to some cartoons and designs.One day.........
Well maybe Ill do a book of them.Doing a copyright was very easy,I couldnt copy right the words, to the cartoons,unless it is taken out of context of a book and stated not to be used without my express
consent.
If you have a better widget,Have a attorney help you find a buyer or investor (patent attorney)
I fought IBM a few years ago on a microfish reader.This was before home computors,And I didnt have a chance in hell getting that reader on the market.
And at the same time I handed over some designs to some plastic toy Co.outside of Portland Oregon,signed all the contracts for the toys to be made and I would get a percentage of the profit.
Several years later the toys were made,after the time limits had expired,and a different Co.
I didnt have the patent rights or copy rights to those ideas.
posted on September 23, 2002 03:16:02 PM new
Is there manufacturing involved basketman? Is it an improvement on an idea already out there? Is it a tangible item or an idea? Is there any way you could be more specific without giving away your secret?
posted on September 23, 2002 04:38:51 PM new
Of corse you all know what i do by my name. So, what if I can put anything on that basket you wan't? I'm not talking about a photo, or something painted on it. It will be put there with the wood I work with. (ex) I'm a buffalo bill fan, so I'll put a Buffalo on the basket, all out of wood I work with. That means puting the differnt colors of wood in the right place to do it. No, I'm not afraid you will take it away from me. I don't want you taking all the money, witch the NFL would do? RIGHT????
posted on September 23, 2002 04:56:56 PM new
Oh ya, there not that meny people out there that can make a basket. Say nothing about where they will get the wood to do it?
posted on September 23, 2002 05:13:08 PM new
basketman,Just taking a wild hunch,You wont have trouble putting a bufflo on the basket,You cant put the team name on there, or use any logo of any team or company.
You would have to get their permission to do so.And you cant use the exact Buffalo the team uses.
posted on September 23, 2002 05:17:38 PM new
If you live near a town that has yearly craft or trade shows, set up there to see how things go. You could also have an internet site for not too much money, that you could tie into the shows, ebay, etc. Pass flyers around in apt. buildings and mailboxes next time you're out for a drive. Your idea sounds intriguing basketman. There are tons of ways to promote your product if you're willing to put some leg work into it. I hope you do well!
posted on September 23, 2002 09:54:19 PM new
Placing a logo or medalion placard on a basket probably could not be patented. One major basket company already places medalions and placards in brass and ceramic, etc., on their baskets. Putting a design in the actual weave of a basket has been done also.
Placing NFL or other trademarked insignia on a basket would require a license. All you can do is ask the owners and see if they will allow a lincense and how much they'll charge. But you'll also want it to be an exclusive license or the big basket company will swoop in if you're fabulously successful.
But it sounds like a service that the basket buying public might want.
Can you think of non-infringing designs you might place on the baskets, e.g., family name, birthdates with an image of a baby etc., or commorating anniversaries with names and dates etc.. You might even make custom logo baskets for companies that may give them to employees or customers.
Being able to custom weave a design into a basket is a skill that you should be able to easily market yourself.
Original designs weaved into the basket can be copyrighted or even trademarked.
posted on September 25, 2002 10:04:08 AM new
I want to thank every one that wants to help me. I'm still thinking? 10 people can help me, and I'll feel good, and try do do what my mind says I know. It only takes one person to run me down, and I will be worthless. I know what I can do, I have done it. Now I have to put it to the real test, if some people will leave my alone?? If I ever do it, my name will be SKIPS-BASKETS Thanks, skip
