Hi RI:
Thanks for your letter.
Your search of prior art hasn't been thorough enough at all. The RP Patent Museum you
searched is just that - a representative sample of the most significant patents in the
field. There are only about 70 there, and now the complete database has nearly 3,500
documents [as of 12/05]. That number will increase in a couple of weeks by 150 -> 200
when we start researching for this quarter's Additive Fabrication Spy.
Before you spend any money or time on lawyers or fees, I'd strongly recommend you search the US PTO site (www.uspto.gov). Naturally, we'd like to sell you our patent database for US$299, or provide you consulting help - but try that first. You might find something that interferes fairly quickly and that will save you some bucks. By fairly quickly I mean several hours of work, incidentally. You should also search the bibliography section of our site thoroughly.
Assuming you don't find anything that knocks you out at the PTO, consider purchasing
our database as a next step or having us research it for you. I've attached a consulting
brochure for your reference.
More about the database can be found here:
http://home.att.net/~castleisland/pr_pat.htm
If you're still alive after that, your next step is to make a provisional patent
application (about US$100 fee). You should do this before any approach to a licensee
because most companies won't talk to you at all without an application. Most companies
feel they would be jeopardizing and confusing their legal positions without one. An
application lays out the legal specifics and clarifies the situation.
This is the least expensive way to proceed, but you'll need to file a utility patent
application within a year. Note also that your invention must comply with patent filing
rules such as not being sold or disclosed anywhere in the world for more than 1 year prior
to your (provisional) application. By the way, US patent attorneys are very expensive; 5
years ago mine was charging US$475 / hr. I tremble to think what he's charging now. There
may be some creative ways of dealing with that, however. You can find out more about US
patenting procedures on the PTO web-site.
Approaching a company with an invention is always fraught with difficulty. Even if you
have a patent application in-hand, and they're willing to speak with you and sign
non-disclosure agreements, your description might be enough to get them thinking about
ways around you. They may have already been working on something in-house or financed
research at a university similar in nature, etc. They may license your idea and never use
it - The list goes on. You should think about a strategy for getting value out of the
property beforehand. If you make any money at all, you'll be doing well compared to the
majority of inventors in similar situations.
I hope this will get you moving in the right direction. Thanks again for your letter.
Please keep me informed of your progress and I send best regards.
Ed
Ed Grenda
Castle Island Co.
The Worldwide Guide to Rapid Prototyping
