inventions

[sourshishke]

Are there places that will buy yr invention?

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

I'm going to guess you did not invent a spell checker.

 

[bluewall21]

Patent it.

If you search long enough, somebody will probably buy it. Maybe.

 

[DaShen]

Keep it to yourself. Or if you really think it is a good idea, and you want to go through the heartache of patenting it and trying to sell it to venture capitalists, go ahead.

 

[dullard]

There are two potential routes.

Cheap way: bring your invention idea to many companies with a business plan of how it can help their business. If you are lucky, you'll get a taker and you can negotiate a price for your idea. If you are normal, you'll get nothing but you'll lose nothing. If you are unlucky, you'll get interested parties that'll steal your invention and sell it as their own and you lose it all.

Expensive way: get a couple of patents (a picket fence type of defense). Even if one patent is lost (about half of all patents are thrown out in court), you still have multiple patents protecting your idea. Think roughly $15,000 per patent possibly quite more. That money is just for the US, if you want worldwide protections expect $50,000+ per patent. Then with your patented invention that cannot be stolen easilly, follow the cheap way above.

Remember, 90% of patented ideas go nowhere. Of that, 50% are thrown out in court. So expect a 5% success rate if you have a good idea.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: dullard
There are two potential routes.

Cheap way: bring your invention idea to many companies with a business plan of how it can help their business. If you are lucky, you'll get a taker and you can negotiate a price for your idea. If you are normal, you'll get nothing but you'll lose nothing. If you are unlucky, you'll get interested parties that'll steal your invention and sell it as their own and you lose it all.

Expensive way: get a couple of patents (a picket fence type of defense). Even if one patent is lost (about half of all patents are thrown out in court), you still have multiple patents protecting your idea. Think roughly $15,000 per patent possibly quite more. That money is just for the US, if you want worldwide protections expect $50,000+ per patent. Then with your patented invention that cannot be stolen easilly, follow the cheap way above.

Remember, 90% of patented ideas go nowhere. Of that, 50% are thrown out in court. So expect a 5% success rate if you have a good idea.

BTW, It would be better to patent before showing a company or business. Otherwise, you could be giving them free ideas.

 

[RichUK]

What is your invention?

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: DaShen
BTW, It would be better to patent before showing a company or business. Otherwise, you could be giving them free ideas.

That is exactly what I said.

 

[chickadee]

go on that tv show about made in america like everyone else.

 

[sourshishke]

Thanks everyone

 

[imported_LoKe]

Throw it out. Everything has been invented already. =]

 

[pinion9]

Get a provisional patent. They cost $100 and last one year. They are there to protect you when you go to companies so they can't steal your idea and so you don't have to pay the ~$15K up front. If the company likes your idea, you turn your provisinal patent into a standard patent and go from there...Usually you can sell your provisional to the company so it is their name on the patent.

 

[JS80]

Like dullard said, legit patents cost quite a bit of money. I thought it was generally $25k to get a thorough and legit patent.

 

[Powermoloch]

patent

 

[iamtrout]

I can sell you a patent for $20. Seriously. Just give me the specs for your idea.

 

[Fiat1]

Get on that TV show.
American inventor

 

[Dirigible]

Dullard and pinion9 covered it pretty well.

Turning an idea into money is extremely tough. Companies don't want to pay you money, they'd rather keep it for their stockholders.

If you show your idea without protection (NDA, which most companies would refuse to sign anyway unless you've got big pull, or patent) they'll just take the idea if it's good or (more likely) decide your idea is of no use to them.

If you have protection and show it to companies, it's still quite difficult to find a company that would be interested in paying you money for it. Most companies have their own internal idea generators that do the job quite nicely. You'd have to have a pretty big idea and a lot of credibility to get cash that way.

Alternatives to selling the idea to companies:

You could patent it, wait until someone else starts doing what you patented then offer a license (with an implied threat you'll sue if they don't pay you).

Or you could patent it and start your own business doing it, whatever it is.