im tryin to research gettin a patent, and marketing an original idea.
http://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2/showthread.php?t=29161&page=1&pp=25
only problem is i dont really know where to start, or who i need to talk to w/o spendin boo-ku amounts of $$$ i dont have.
anybody got any help/advise for me here?
That's the problem....it costs money....thousands of dollars IIRC.
Also with something like a child safety restraint, you'll be getting into even more when it comes down to "crash worthiness"
im lookin at $12-20K if i have someone help me do all the leg work and researchin patents and marketing and stuff like that. that aint gonna happen. theres no way with all the stupid patents i read about, that those people have that much dispoable income to throw around, is it?
im hopin(big dreams here) that i can find some company interested enough in the idea to take over the crash testing and development stuff.....
chuck, thats jus my first prototype. the second phase is still in development
This was designed for a Ranger right? You might wanna try and talk to ford about it, it could boost sales you know with the "option child restraint"
Though kudos go to you or who ever made it on design.
First read about it at TRS.
Tootles
thanks. gotta link to where you saw it? im not a member and cant search over there. didnt know i was makin the rounds :grinno:
*edit. i got it. my buddie posted it and didnt tell me, lol
small world ain't it?
Very cool idea, but I'd be terrifed to try to sell something safety related in the lawyer-crazy USA, especially something for kids. You might contact Ford as somebody noted above, not only to make the suggestion, but to find out if there are any engineering reasons why Ford didn't put child seat anchorages back there to begin with. Knowing Ford it was a cost-cutting measure, but it would be very important to know if there were any other concerns
At one time I held 50% of the rites to a patent (richkep rainkap).the guy I was partners with, did all the research and was able to do it on his own.If you have the time,it can be done.
He began at the Law library researching any products that came close to the one we had.we then made up the drawing and submitted them (they are very picky with the drawings) we had to submit them 3 or 4 times before they Accepted them.
after getting the patent,we then started to seek out a company to make the product.we then designed the packaging and found a company to do that for us.after everything was set,with the product and packaging, we had to find companies that would buy the product (this is the hard part).It took roughly 4 years before we got a big company to buy our product (camping world).
this is roughly what is in store to make your dream come true.
you have to be ditermind and not give up and it will happen.
P.S. DO NOT GO INTO BUSSINESS WITH A FAMILY MEMBER !!!!!!!
Nice idea. We're getting ready for round two as well, hoping to get pregnant in the new year.
I don't have much to add to this, I just cracked up when I saw "boo-ku" and had to say something. :) It's a real french word, (Beaucoup), but when I looked it up to make sure I spelled it right, I found this.
beau·coup pr0nunciation (bk, b-, b-k) also boo·coo or boo·koo (b-) Chiefly Southern U.S.
adj.
Many; much: beaucoup money.
I knew Americans hated the French, but I didn't know they acutally took french words and turned them into US slang.
I've actually joked with the g/f about building something similar in the 83 Tbird (no back seat) to mount her daughter's Recaro child seat so we all could go places in the Tbird :p
Seriously though, something like this is NOT something I would want to sell myself....mainly for the liability issue. For personal use, yeah, but not to build and sell to the masses. Your "best" route is to perhaps sell the idea to a larger company, but then at thaht you need some sort of patent to protect your idea.
the first thing you should do is insure you establish a point in time properly.
Meaning,, it was your idea on a certain date. Since the patent does not exist yet, it can be established in court (if it comes to that) that your idea was dreamed up prior to the assigned patent number by using the United States Post Office.
If you Insert your idea inside a sealed envelope and mail it to yourself from yourself via registered mail, and leave it un opened, this is considered a establishment of time inwhich who thought up an idea first. You will become worried about the idea as too many people become involved and maybe trust issues will linger. This is not fool proof but is evidence worthy in court.
I agree, the drawings are an issue with the US PTO but they specifically state your ink has to be "india" ink and piece parts ect as well as the breakdown and reference numbers all have to be in a specific style of script including the lack of "straight" lines in reference items.
You have your work cut out for you when you write up the section relating to "Prior Art" as well.
You might as well subscribe to the PTO today and get started. As for the Type of patent, some only protect you in a geographic area even here in the US such as a "trade mark" patent. Its possible that someone on the west coast could produce your product cause you are not covered in that geography under the "type of patent".
The expense on the front end is high depending on what revenue you see down the line. IMHO, a few bucks now has to happen for the sake of your idea,,getting the bucks is the issue. As far as fees,, they aint that bad,, last i checked which was in 95, back then the maintenance fees were only a couple hundered bucks a year. After 17 years, the patent expires, and of course that could have changed as well but i dont think so.
There are limitations on patents these days such as the drug industry,,which i think occured during clintons administration. I think they limited the drug industry patent for 24 months or so to allow for more competetion. Thats why you see all sorts of new names of the same type of drug with minor changes in order to file a new patent. A drug company will actually adverstise againt a product they produced a couple years ago in order to promote the ""NEWER"" or improved version they offer now.
Just an example of the gong on with patents,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,OH<<<<<<<<< did i mention as soon as you get the patent number assigned and approved by the PTO, a chinese firm associated to a lobyist in congress will be producing your idea and have it on wal mart shelves quicker than you can you can say WTF!!! Dont bother to complain cause thats reality.
thanks for the info guys. this is the second time i have heard the mail it to yourself idea. must come from a good place! do the created dates of my pictures on the hard drive mean anything? would they hold up in court?
honestly if it came to fightin someone for the rights, i probly cant afford that anymore than i can afford the patent in the first place...
i have no plans to produce or sell these myself. no way. liability would kill me.
i have heard it a million times that i should look into sellin this idea, or patents, or whatever. so i did, and wow.
At the very least, print out hard-copies of the pics and mail them. That's about the best you can do in that regards.