Trailor invention

[Sheephead Slayer]

I was waiting to get some tires put on in a
Savage area garage today. I picked up the local paper a saw someone is going to be on a invention show this Saturday I believe channel 45.
Anyway, he made a mirror mount that attaches to any trailor, so that you can back right up to the hitch while aligning the ball to the coupler, without having to get out 5 times and look to see if your in-line. He made it past 200 other inventions to be on the show. It lookes like a good idea so I thought I would pass the info on if anyone wants to whatch the show.
I forgot to take a copy, maybe someone from that area could post the time and date?
Kevin

[protiller]

I would love to know the time and date. I teach an invention unit in my classroom and am always looking for local inventors/inventions. Id it on this weekend (12/20)? What's the name of the show?

David

[JIM PAYNE]

What type of class do you teach? I hold to new patents on inventions i have. They are both sold on this site. The STAYNCHARGE products.

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JIM PAYNE

[protiller]

i teach 6th grade science. i use the invnetion unit to help kids improve there problem solving skills.

[Granny]

Jim,
How easy is it to get a pattent on an idea? I have something in mind but no real idea of where to from there.
Thanks, Granny

[JIM PAYNE]

There are alot of things to do to get a good patent. It is not hard but it can get spendy. You can do your own patent through the internet and get alot of the info you need before you get an lawyer to finish it. The best thing to do is apply for a profesional patent and that will give you a year to do marketing to see if your product is going to sale. If you find out there is a market for it then you will need a lawyer to protect it for you. If i can help let me know.

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JIM PAYNE

[JIM PAYNE]

I really think that sceince class sounds great for 6th graders. For someone like me it has been nothing but problem solving. Taking an idea from your own mind and getting it on the market is pretty tough but not half as tough as solving all the things that come after you idea gets into the hands of people all over the countries hands. It is a full day every day finding that other people just can not see how easy your idea is. Problem solving is how i spend most of my days. So i aplaud you on taking such a project on with 6th graders.

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JIM PAYNE

[Granny]

Jim,
Do you have an email address I could send some questions to?
Thanks, Granny

[Daveo]

I also have a pretty good invetion for ice house's. every one i know says i should get it out there and patten it. Souds spendy and time cunsuming to me. I have been playing with it all summer long and will put it through the big test on the 26th of dec. up at lake of the wooods.
I will be on chanel 7 and 11 on frs and 82 on marine band. if anyone is up there then look me up and ill show it off..see what yea all think of it. i wont give out to mutch info on it till i get some feed back on the lake. I will say though every singal frind i know thinks its the coolest thing they have ever seen.

good luck on the ice
DaveO

[Guest]

Sorry about this long reply!

Here in the USA you have 1 year after public disclosure to patent your invention. You can file a provisional Patent application for around $80.00 and that will let you put "Patent Pending" on your product, but you must file the Non-Provisional (full) patent application within 1 year of the provisional.

A patent will give you the right to stop someone from building your product.
It's up to you to file a lawsuit if you find someone infringing on your patent (you can't call the cops on someone for infringement).

If you file suit against someone for infrigement you can expect a legal battle as they will try to get around your patent or have your patent invalidated. This is why you need a good patent lawyer to write up a rock solid patent that will hold in court. You can expect to pay 3-10 grand depending on the complexity of you invention.

You want some fun reading go to the www.uspto.gov web site and do some searching.
You'll have to download a viewer for the pictures, but it's not a big deal.

Do a search for Rod holders and see how many there are (and how similar they are). See if you find any that are actually for sale at the stores. All of these people shelled out big $$ for these patents.

I guess you need to ask yourself if you want to have a manufacturer license and build your invention (patent required) or do you want to build and sell it yourself?
If you get a patent do you have the financial resources to hire lawyers and file an infringement suit?

It's a tough call to make. I decided to build and sell my invention. I've done okay recovering the cost of manufacturing but that's about it. Every single one of my friends said what a great idea it is.
People at the ice fishing show said what a great idea it is(and walked away without buying one). Am I glad I didn't spend thousands on a patent? You Bet!
Am I worried about someone else building it? Not for 1 year!

Al Peterson
Fishing Systems

P.s. While I was writing this I got a call from a guy in Sheboygan, he bought one at the St.Paul Ice fishing show and just ordered 12 more! This might fly yet!

[JIM PAYNE]

great response on patents at it is all true. Like i said before it is great idea to get out and do a test market first before spending all that money. A test market is only one way to get an idea about your product. There are alot of ways to test market things and shows are only one way and is not cheap either. You can find some pros that would try it for you and you can go to stores and talk to the buyers and see what they think. The buyers are hard to get to but it is all about who you know. And you already know some good guys from this site that could help. So do not be afraid of following your dreams no matter what any one else says. Just be smart. Good luck

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JIM PAYNE

[joshb]

hey guys i'm glad someone brought this up, i have, what i think to be a great product idea. the problem is i have no way of manufacturing it. i want to talk to related industry professionals but am almost certian they would steal the idea. what do i do?. the best case senario is that i could sell the idea to someone, please help.

[JIM PAYNE]

[email protected]

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JIM PAYNE

[JIM PAYNE]

good luck on the new product and if i can help let me know.

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JIM PAYNE

[Granny]

johsb,
Same kind of situation I am thinking of. I heard that if you try to sell your idea most places will just wait and manuafcture the idea themselves and not give you any credit. Then you need $$$$ to fight against them! Sounds like a lost battle already.

[Guest]

You can have the manufacturer sign a non-disclosure agreement (you can find samples on the web).
You could also file a disclosure with the USPTO so that a manufacturer can't come in and say they invented it first. Keeping good records of your inventing process will help defend against this too.

I wouldn't be too afraid of manufacturers stealing your idea, They do not want to get tangled up in a lawsuit and they know you have up to a year to patent it.
They will, most likely, want to see a working prototype.

If the manufacturer really wants your idea they may actauly pay for your patent because they know that if you, the true inventor, does not file for a patent within the one year of disclosure the invention will become public domain and then their competitors will have it too.

Good luck!
Al

[JIM PAYNE]

I had evryone i talked to sign non-disclosures before i showed it to them. It is easy enough to get the help you need. You can also contact the SBA OF MN. and they are very helpful. Or you can contact me and i would give you some people i deal with that would be happy to help. I would not contact any of those patent orginatations that say they will do it for you. They get alot of money to do that. There is alot of good manufacturers here in MN that can help you with getting working ptototypes too. Good luck

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JIM PAYNE