How do I register an invention?

[Archie_tect]

If the last episode of The Apprentice is anything to go by, all you need to do is present your idea to Boots and they will give you hundreds of thousands of orders, help you improve the product and all they want in return is exclusivity....

Good luck Speicher, sounds intriguing!

 

[Speicher]

Over the Hill your last sentence sounds like the real challenge. How to cover every other way of that "one step", without divulging the idea to some unscrupulous person.

 

[Speicher]

If the last episode of The Apprentice is anything to go by, all you need to do is present your idea to Boots and they will give you hundreds of thousands of orders, help you improve the product and all they want in return is exclusivity....

Good luck Speicher, sounds intriguing!

It is a comparatively simple idea. Thank you for your offer to draw it for me with your eyes closed.

The Apprentice and Boots, that wasn't the complicated gizmo for reading a book on the beach was it?

 

[Crankarm]

An intellectual property lawyer? ££££££££££££££

Make sure you obtain a worldwide patent.

If you want an objective opinion on your invention PM me a few drawings, a descripton, pics and business plan.

 

[Globalti]

I invented the mountain bike back in the 70s when I bolted the tiny chainring off my brother's Triang trike onto my 10 speed. Unfortunately it broke under the strain on the first hill but imagine if I'd patented that one?

 

[mark barker]

May I ask a (possibly) silly question then, Mark? If I submit drawings for a patent to be protected, are there protocols in existence to stop someone saying "This will not work/is no good" but then adopting the idea as their own?

On cipa.org.uk there is mention of an office in Worcester. The nearest free clinics are in Newport.

Therein lies one f the biggest problems with Intellectual Property Rights... Any idea that has a patent can be modified by anyone and a new patent applied for IF the new application can show a valid improvement/modification. Quite often these new patents will have clauses in them that state that acknowledgements to the original designer must be granted, but this is normally only the case if the original applicant asks for it.

Obviously without knowing what the idea is its hard to give specific advice, but in some cases its not worth going down the IP route. If the invention is likely to be a success for the first few months that its available and then disappear, its often cheaper and easier to put the product into production, flood the market and get then get out. Sure the marketplace will find cheaper copies of the product, but you'll have had your moment in the market, so let the parasites pick up the leftovers.

Before discussing your idea with anyone its vital you get a decent confidentiality agreement or "non-disclosure agreement" drawn up.

 

[Aperitif]

Before discussing your idea with anyone its vital you get a decent confidentiality agreement or "non-disclosure agreement" drawn up.

Good point - among many. NDAs are all over the place at work...