I have an idea that I want to get royalties from companies

[AznSensation]

I have a great idea (a product enhancement) that I would like to get patented (my idea hasn't been patented yet) and sell my idea to get royalties off the companies. How can I go about doing this? Does anyone have any experience getting royalties from your ideas?

 

[freejumps]

i have much experience in this field. just pm me your idea. i won't steal it, i promise.

 

[zerocool84]

Umm how about getting it patented first............

 

[freejumps]

Umm how about getting it patented first............

takes years. but i know a way to make it take weeks, i just need the idea pm'd to me

 

[slayer202]

Umm how about getting it patented first............

winnar

get the patent pending and then go talk to companies

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I have a great idea (a product enhancement) that I would like to get patented (my idea hasn't been patented yet) and sell my idea to get royalties off the companies. How can I go about doing this? Does anyone have any experience getting royalties from your ideas?

I'm a patent attorney. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM them to me (or ask me here if you want). Your inquiry above is very general, and would be easier to answer over the phone unless you can narrow it down a bit. Licensing is a bit of an art. Merely having a good idea is not enough in 99.999% of all cases, even if that idea is patented. Lots of people have good ideas. Not many people turn those ideas into profitable product that someone would want to license the rights to. And irrespective of the product, getting a company to sign up for a license takes a fair amount of business savvy.

If you are serious about trying to patent your invention, don't tell ANYONE about it until you file a patent application, unless you have a confidential relationship with that person. By confidential relationship, I mean that the person is bound by some ethical or statutory rule of confidentiality (e.g., attorney client privilege), is your employee (bound by an employment agreement with relevant confidentiality provisions), or has signed a valid non-disclosure agreement.

Of course, I'm not your attorney and NOTHING I say to you or post on this forum is legal advice. You rely on anything I say at your own risk.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Also OP, you might want to check out www.intelproplaw.com. It is an IP forum that fields questions like yours on a near daily basis.

 

[Skeeedunt]

1. Patent brilliant idea.
2. Company steals it.
3. Sue.
4. They can afford lawyers, you can afford ramen.
5. Cry.

 

[Sluggo]

I have a great idea (a product enhancement)

Its OK if you just call it "male enhancement", lots of companies are calling it that.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Back in the 1980s I came up with the idea of locking car covers. I bought a book called "patent it yourself". I then realized nobody would buy a locking car cover.

 

[PhineasJWhoopee]

I have a great idea (a product enhancement) that I would like to get patented (my idea hasn't been patented yet) and sell my idea to get royalties off the companies. How can I go about doing this? Does anyone have any experience getting royalties from your ideas?

All of my patents are owned by my employers so I can't help with the royalty question, but how do you know that your idea is patentable?

I'm not a patent attorney but I have 60 US Patents so I have some grasp of the subject.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

All of my patents are owned by my employers so I can't help with the royalty question, but how do you know that your idea is patentable?

This is a fair point. OP, you should do a prior art search to determine whether your invention has been done before. Patenting an invention can be extremely expensive, particularly if you decide to pursue foreign patent protection. Even as a small entity, you are looking at filing fees in the $10-$20k range, and that is if you only file in the U.S. and major international markets (Australia, Canada, China, the EU, and Japan). Could be more or less, depending on the size on the application and the number of claims. So, before you spend all that cash, you should make sure that trying to patent your invention is worth the investment.

Try searching for your invention on the following websites:

http://www.google.com/patents (US patents)

http://patft.uspto.gov/ (US patents and application publications, will need a tiff viewer to view the images)

http://ep.espacenet.com/advancedSearch?locale=en_EP (European community and other foreign patents).

 

[Miramonti]

If it's a good idea, get it patented. Then after multinationals steal the idea, wait 5-7 years for them to make lots of money off it before suing them for billions.

By then you'll have financing thrown at you from each direction by those looking to get a piece of your golden goose, and you'll be able to wait it out at the investors' expense as it winds thru the courts.

 

[dawp]

1. Patent brilliant idea.
2. Company steals it.
3. Sue.
4. They can afford lawyers, you can afford ramen.
5. Cry.

not always:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kearns

 

[bignateyk]

Tell us your idea so we can properly guide you :hmm:

 

[JeepinEd]

Back in the 1980s I came up with the idea of locking car covers. I bought a book called "patent it yourself". I then realized nobody would buy a locking car cover.

Ha Ha! Back in the early 80's I built an adapter that lets you plug your portable CD player into your tape deck. A year and a half later, I saw the exact same adapter being sold at Tower Records.