Is there a Patent Agent in the house?

[DickyC]

Two ideas to do with road transport have been going round in my head for ages, they seem to be new but I can't see how to protect them. One is a method that revises road use to minimise wear and tear on roads and the other uses available equipment in a novel way to help traffic flow. So neither is an invention. If they're not protectable and I'm not going to make a fortune I would still like them discussed with a view to them being used. 

Does anyone run a No Fortune No Fee scheme for intellectual property protection?

[bucksmanuk]

I would read this first


Make sure you buy the UK version.

There are loads more to get your teeth into afterwards. Sometimes copyright or registered design is the way to go.

The variations on licensing are incredible. A mate in the car club has been through this with patents for software, which seem to be another level above normal product design.

Do your homework first, there's some good links online to patents, Google Patent is good place to start. Prepare yourself for the £175/hr+vat shafting off the patent lawyer though...

It is difficult to get going with this; you soon begin to understand why the bigger companies have whole departments to look after their patent issues.

I’ve found the most annoying bit of this is - when I’ve mentioned I am trying to go down this route, is the incredible negativity off a wide variety of people.

Hopefully someone else will be along shortly with far more knowledge than I have.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained

[DickyC]

That's brilliant, thank you!

[AMST09]

Unless you have a ton of money to fight it if someone infringes it just sell the idea to someone else

My wife works in pharmaceutical patents, it’s a horrendous amount of money to get it through and even more to defend it

If you do get it through you might be best to license it to someone else so they defend it

You can go on the UK IPO website and file a form 1 with a description of the product then you have your filing date and application number and you can sell it on or you are protected from that date

However if your not a massive corporation you just won’t have the money to fight it, they charge £350 per hour to work on a patent

[DickyC]

£350 per hour?

We're in the wrong racket.

Again.

Many thanks.

[ReverendCounter]

Why don't you see of there's a BIPC outfit in your nearest city? They'll show you how to do a search on the online patent repositories like Espacenet - or, you can pay them to do a search on your behalf at a dramatically lower rate than patent attorneys.

Edited by ReverendCounter on Monday 7th May 01:08

[rdjohn]

If your ideas are intended for use on Public Highways, then you only need to convince the Dept for Transport that there is an urgent and lasting need for your devices.

They are a very conservative bunch - usual reasons for refusal go like,

It sets a bad precedent.
Does not meet requirements of current regulations
It’s too dangerous
Or simply, not invented here.

If it has pan-European need then the problem is that each country has subsidiarity over such decisions, it is why UK traffic lights are different from French etc.

[DickyC]

You're not painting a pretty picture. I'm aware of the Not Invented Here Syndrome and how hard it is to combat. I'll see how far I get and if it looks hopeless I'll air the ideas here so at least no one else can claim them as novel. If they are adopted I'll go for a Knighthood instead of money.

[AlexB]

E-mail sent

[Insurancejon]

we use a PHer called Patently on here....really good and reasonable

[DickyC]

Insurancejon said:

we use a PHer called Patently on here....really good and reasonable

Thanks!

[DickyC]

AlexB said:

E-mail sent

Replied. Thanks.