I have an invention or rather an improvement on an existing product. I know people who have went the way of the "send your inventions to us" and they have been coned out of $10,000. Only to get a book with their name it is saying they have applied for a patten I don't want to make millions but I know this simple change on this product will greatly improve it. Any ideas? Grant

-- grant (organicgrange@yahoo.com), November 29, 2000

Answers

Try this site: http://www.inventionconnection.com/

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), November 29, 2000.

Here is another invention possibility for you to consider. If you have ever used those toilet bowl cleaners you drop in the tank, note they color (disinfect) the entire tank. Then, when the toilet is flushed, probably over 90% of its effectiveness gets flush into the sewer/septic system. Now consider if some type of container was placed between the bottom of the small tube which puts water into the bowl after a flush and the top of the overflow pipe. The capsule (or whatever it is called) would go into the container so it only feeds the bowl, not the entire tank. Something like a fuel filter. Anyone can use this as I am not laying any claim to it.

On your original question you said it is an existing product. Consider contacting the company saying you have an improvment to it and ask their procedures for submitting it. They may buy your idea, whether they use it or not, to keep it from their competitors.

In whatever situation, before submitting anything to anyone have your ideas notarized to clearly state you as the inventor and the date. This may help you later if you are trying to sue.

I once wrote to a company making a suggested improvement to their produce. Received a polite letter back thanking me for my "unsolicited" improvement. Doesn't appear they ever used it.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 30, 2000.

It all depends on the company. I've invented several products. I've been lucky enough to have received payment for 3 of them. Although it sounds like the big boys are BS'ing you they really do get hundreds of offers per day. If yours is unique and can add to the bottom line You have a 30/70 chance of getting reviewed. If reviewed your chance of one on one talks is 40/60. If you get to 1-1 talking you have a 75/25 chance of selling your "idea", improvement/invention.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), November 30, 2000.

Are you interested in patenting your invention, or do you just want to sell it without worrying that competitors can copy and sell it too? I work at a law firm that specializes in patents and trademarks, so although I am not an attorney, I can tell you a thing or two about the process.

If you want to patent something yourself, you can. The US Patent and Trademark Office has a web site with pretty good directions if you take the time to read them. It's http://www.uspto.gov. You'll still have some fees. The current fee for filing an application for a utility patent for a single inventor is $355, then there will likely be an incidental fee or two. If and when your patent is approved for publication, the fee for publication, unless it changes between now and then, will be $620.

The Patent Office has gone to a more "streamlined" process now, and they try to have the patent approval process completed within, I think, 18 months. I'm really not too sure about that time frame - I'd have to look it up on the site, but I think I'm in the ballpark. My point is that patenting something is a long, drawn out and somewhat costly process, even if you do it yourself.

It is not necessary to have a patent on something in order to market it. In fact, if you have a modification on a current product, and you would like to market it to the manufacturer of the current product, or possibly a competitor, you can do so without having a patent.

However, if your invention is valuable, and you want to get paid for it, you may want to investigate getting at least a provisional patent application underway before trying to market the idea, to safeguard your interests in the invention. Provisional applications currently cost $75 to file yourself and do nothing more than hold your ownership of the idea for up to a year while you decide whether or not to proceed with a full utility patent.

If you send the provisional application by Express Mail (Not Fed Ex, DHL, or any other courier, but Express Mail only) your protection will be effective as of the date of mailing, which the post office will stamp on your copy of the Express Mail label. So even if you show the idea to someone else the next day, you're protected for a year. If they wanted to bilk you, and they thought you weren't going to apply for a utility patent yourself, they could say they weren't interested and hold off manufacture for a year until your protection lapsed, then make application for their own patent. To light a fire under them, you could show the invention or idea to more than one possible buyer.

Hope this helps to give you an idea of what you are considering getting into. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

-- Laura Jensen (lauraj@seedlaw.com), December 01, 2000.

Hi, Laura:

I do have, what I think is a great idea but I'm a littel lost, as how to bring it to the table without lossing it. I would rather speak to you than try to get a point across in wirting.

Thanks, Roland

-- Roland Gonzalez (sgonzalez@ikidney.com), April 11, 2001.

Ok, so how do you know if your invention has already been invented?

-- Adam (abarsky@tulane.edu), July 25, 2001.

you'd need to do a patent search. here's somewhere to start. http://164.195.100.11/netahtml/search-adv.htm

-- somebody (something@somewhere.com), July 26, 2001.