Provisional Patent
good fight against cancer went downhill in early 2006. There was a peaceful end to the
pain in February of this year. Her family has been more than supportive. My family is out
of state, as are old friends from New York. I think I have talked to my older brother more
than I have talked to him my entire life. (Thank you, unlimited call service.) I see some
wonderful people from the Art Guild where I am active. And then, there are the lonely times.
You'd think I would get back to the easel. No. Something strange is happening; another
"imagine" part of me has come alive. It started with an idea that would be an aid to (generally)
seniors. I drew it up on some graph paper, filled an eight-and-a-half eleven with an
explanation and did some research via the internet. Looked at the uspto.gov site.
Learned as much as I could, then called when I needed clarification. I could not be happier
with the response. Real people answer the phone. One fellow told me they are retirees
who have many years experience in the inventing process. I sent the papers off.
For $100, I now have a provisional patent. This means I have one year to develop "it"
and either let it go or obtain a full patent. Presently, after exchanging nondisclosure papers
with several plastics manufacturers and a design company, I am waiting for proposals.
It is taking time, as I must know down to the shipping costs, if this is workable. Having
signed the papers, I will not be able to disclose what "it" is until we're in production. This
is a new adventure for me. But I have not gotten to the strange part.
While going through the house, annoying everyday things would suddenly became
highlighted in my mind. There must be a way to fix this, or resolve that, I would think,
then let it go. Funniest thing is, I would ignore the problem and do something else... ideas
would then pop into my head...tweak this, add that, really workable solutions. Talk about
drive you crazy. Even the blasted hosiery I complain about in Footwear-Sox ... if they
would only put out a really good full sized pair (I have an old waffle weave sneaker sock
that does not ride down after washing) I have a dynamite name for the line. Of course,
I do not know anyone in the business, so I can't tell anyone about it. Is this a curse?
Or just things that drive you crazy.
I will get back to you, tell you more about the lawyering, the paper trail, how I found the
plastics companies. Do not want to bore you with a screed.
- For updates on the process I am going through, click on Recent Comments if you want t
- o know how the invention thing works with me. I think it is in everyone.
1/17/08: Several days ago I met with people at a plant in New England. I had put a
deposit down on a prototype and the preliminary talks took place (stage one). Cad
drawings will be done and submitted to me for approval. After some changes are made,
I will pay the balance for working software (stage two) that will be used for building
(stage three) the prototypes. The entire process will cost a little over one thousand.
The reason it has taken so long is that I had planned to have a short run done and start
selling right away. The proposals were either too pricey or too low in price to make sense.
One factory could not fuse two parts together and said I could glue them...neh! If I go
forward and produce this myself, the metal mold alone could cost 12,000. Some suggested
I make the product in China.
I will attempt to interest several companies in the uniqueness of this product. With a
good prototype, the first impression should be good. The target U.S. population for this
item is roughly only five million. If I can sell the idea and gain enough profit, I can go on
to the next item, which targets anyone who cooks. Think of it.
- The company reps. explained how molds are made, how injection molding takes
- place, parts are attached plastic to plastic, metal to plastic, soft (rubbery) plastic to
- hard plastic...and so on. They also store your mold...you own it for years until you
- and enjoyed the tour through the workings of the plant, Tuesday. Onward.
1/25/08: How about that Forest Pearson in Oregon. 10 year old wanted snow.
Created his own snow machine. His mother says he's always building things with Legos, etc.
This snow machine is beyond that. He had to learn about science for the past three years,
especially molecular happenings, to quote his Mom.
2/13/08: It has been awhile since I wrote about progress on the invention. The company
I deal with had sent me cad drawings on a CD which i then looked at on Quick Time. I was
able to look at engineering drawings and position them in 3D. Awesome! I printed a
shaded drawing and then used an exploded view in a line drawing. I then traced this
schematic and added a change in a certain mechanism. I sent a copy off to the patent office
in Alexandria, Va. the provisional patent is good for one year. If I do not get this thing off
the ground by then, I am not giving up. I have another version of the device to work on...
or there are several ideas I have worked out.
One thing I might add, I enclosed a self-addressed post card with a list of the contents,
i.e. 1 drawing, 1 explanation page, 2pgs PTO/SB/16, check to USPTO. If I am lucky, they
will honor my request to send the application # so that I may give a copy to my lawyer for
the paper trail.
Will keep you posted. The design just needs a little tweaking, then we are on to
prototypes. Cost for this stage is $1000 for cad drawings and the efforts of a great team,
$200 (plus the material upgrade for a finished look). We had gone for a conference as I
may have told you. I would rather return to have a final look at possibilities for the finish.
I am a touchy feely person when it comes to purchases. Probably get that from my mother,
who had a wonderful little cotton goods store.
After I received the provisional patent number, I went to a local lawyer to file for an LLC. This cost a little over a thousand, including the $500 state filing fee. It is well worth it, as I hope to sell at least one product. I left copies of "it" at the lawyer's...good to have a paper trail.
Next I called plastic manufacturing companies, thanks to Thomasnet, that do prototyping and/or short production. If we thought it was workable, I sent two signed copies of a simple nondisclosure agreement and waited for one to come back through the mail. After receiving signatures from each company, I mailed copies of the creation so as to get proposals.
Not that I haven't heard. Problem is, one only does metal molds that would cost five figures. Another can do everything but fuse two parts together, suggesting that they can be glued. N.G. Another would get back to
me in two weeks the last time I talked to them.
Am back to Thomasnetting and more phone calls. I will keep you posted.
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Remember my telling you about one company that would get back to me? Well they did. The 3D drawing charge would be 5 times what another company quoted. The mold is the very pricey metal one that could cost up to $12,000. Do you think they are trying to discourage me? There are other methods for short runs. I just want to see if this thing can fly. Then, we'll look into five figure molds.
Some days I feel as though I am running in place.
Well, today is Sunday. I decided to sweep those acorns off the driveway. A little exercise doesn't hurt. Actually, the endorphin release helps relieve pain. (Sweep faster. Joan)
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