Is it profitable/ How to sell new ideas to Automotive/ Industrial companies? 3

[fcu45]

Hi

Sometimes I get to think of some solutions/ ideas related to automotive or industrial field and some the ideas are related to environment.

So would it be profitable to introduce such ideas to specialist company (e.g. for Automotive I contact BMW/ Nissan)

Can I sell such ideas? Any help of the steps?
Is there a possible way to protect my rights of any idea?
Could it be done through Internet communication only?

Regards

 

[jayjen]

your ideas can be copyrighted if you can prove them to the patent office in your country. For that you will have to make them work in the field such as safety, performance, practicality etc. If you are working for an automotive company as a design engineer, then in most cases lot of companies have contractual agreemen

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=332595t

with their employees that their ideas and design is owned by the employer. So make sure that's not the case. Other than that patent office is your way to go for copyrighting.

 

[fcu45]

Thanks jayjen

That is a big difficulty for me to make the idea works to get a patent. And I don't work for an Automotive company.

For an idea to be patent, can't I just prepare a theoretical descriptions, with sketches and so on?

Thanks again

 

[tygerdawg]

"Patenting an idea" is not simple. After being involved with a number of patent efforts, I now understand why there are patent attorney firms out there who assist companies with these efforts. And why you pay them money to do the work. The expense is substantial. The financial consequences for a truly innovative idea are significant (research...Who was it? ...the recent smartphone battle between Apple and Samsung? Samsung was stuck with a monstrous fine for patent infringement).

From my experience, the sequence of events goes something like this:
[ol]
[li]Keep rigorous notes & records of your work that led to the development of your "new idea." In the event of legal battles, this will be critical.[/li]
[li]Write a patent disclosure. This is "stake in the ground" that establishes precisely WHEN you thought of your idea.[/li]
[li]Patent research to discover "prior art" or whether somebody has filed something similar before you did.[/li]
[li]Work with the Patent Attorneys to write the patent application that doesn't infringe on existing patents or disclosures.[/li]
[li]Many revisions to fine-tune the words, lots of $$.[/li]
[li]If all goes well at the Patent Office, then you eventually get a patent issued.[/li]
[li]Sell the rights to the patent. Retire to Fiji.[/li]
[/ol]

This is the only valid, commerically legal / liable way I know of "selling an idea." Anything less than this leaves your Intellectual Property unprotected so that others can claim the idea was theirs first and reap the rewards.

By the way, I DO NOT live in Fiji. I don't know anyone who does.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[IRstuff]

"big difficulty for me to make the idea works to get a patent"

This is a common misconception. You do not need to reduce to practice to get a patent. Otherwise, the patent office would not be able to reject perpetual motion machines out of the box.

Generally, a patent will protect you, given sufficient resources to pursue the infringers in court.

But, getting and maintaining a patent is fraught with costs or pitfalls:

http://www.ehow.com/info_8063174_average-cost-patent-invention.html

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[tbuelna]

fcu45-

Many of the auto OEMs used to have something called a "New Devices Section" where ideas could be submitted. But for an individual with a device that has not been thoroughly tested and developed it is virtually impossible to get interest from an OEM. As the old saying goes, "Big companies don't pay to develop new technology. Instead, they pay to purchase technology that has already been developed." It has to do with modern publicly-held companies having a strong aversion to the financial risk accompanying development of new technologies.

Here's a link to GM's New Devices Section:

http://www.gmideas.com/gmideas/ideas?action=NewIdea

Good luck.
Terry

 

[fcu45]

Many thanks dear colleagues I appreciate your help.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

My experience - patents are in the $10,000-A$15,000 range. Call a lawyer - you can get some protection rather cheaply by copyright or even sending yourself a copy of the idea via US Mail - as long as it is UPS stamped!!

 

[dgallup]

Getting a patent is not all that difficult. Getting an automotive company interested in using your invention: Difficult. Getting an automotive company to pay you to use the patent: Priceless. Look up the tale of the intermittent windshield wiper.

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