In writing this blog I run the risk of missing a great opportunity because I have scared someone off from contacting me. So let me be clear, there is no bad idea! Some are simply funny only because we have years of experience and have ourselves worked on a few clunkers. (Ok, maybe more than a few!)
My purpose here is to provide a primer over this and the next blog on what I will ask if you contact me with a new product idea. First, in spite of what your attorney insists upon, we will not sign a non-disclosure. Quite frankly, you are just going to have to trust me/us. Why? Because we have over 50 years of thinking about new product ideas. We cannot jeopardize our investment in those ideas by blindly signing a non-disclosure that essentially duplicates an idea we are or have toyed with. By the same token, if you tell us enough about your idea that we are quite confident that it is truly different, we will consider signing. Your best protection: a patent. This puts you in the driver’s seat. However, don’t you know it, there is a problem here as well. I cannot tell you how many folks have paid the money to file a patent on a product that has no chance of being successful. Again, it boils down to trust. You really need to trust someone in our industry to share your idea.
I have a simple philosophy. We are in a small industry. No matter what you come up with, I cannot make enough money on stealing your idea, as I will lose in cheating you. You know how fast word spreads in a small industry.
Nothing enrages me more than one of these inventor “services” that patent your idea for you. I have seen many people get taken by this and then find that there is no market for their idea or product. Do you think the “service “cares? Nope, they made their money. And, a good patent to the end can, and usually, runs up to $10,000. You better sell a lot of whatever you have.
You have an idea for a product you have never seen. Your friends all tell you it is a sure thing. So now what?
Like a cliffhanger, check out Part Two.
