Here is a link to an up to date Playlist on my YouTube channel.

Protect Ideas

Protect ideas using an Inventor Notebook is the perfect way to start protecting your inventions.     In the As Seen on TV distribution channel.

The inventor notebook is the perfect way for creative minds to invent solutions to everyday problems without having to invest a lot of money in patents or product development.

BEFORE

A concept is evaluated for market viability.

According to the USPTO, Inventors have a 12 month grace period to file a provisional patent after the date of the first public disclosure.

When you work with Inventive Ideas, we consider the early stage concept discussions

“confidential and non-public”

So you are not impacted by the grace period.

At the same time,

Protecting your Intellectual Property is a decision best made with the advise of sound legal counsel.

Here are some recommendations about Inventor Notebooks for product ideas.

Standard Recommendations To Protect Ideas:

Use bound notebooks having consecutively numbered pages
Record entries in ink
Enter information directly in notebook (no paper scraps)
No erasing (draw line through mistakes, sign and date corrections)
Do not skip space
Index for retrieval, store securely
Sign,  Date, Witness

Great questions from LinkedIn…

          Paul Skelton                

How does ‘First To File’ impact the 1 year grace period to protect ideas?”                                                                                                              

          Carrie Jeske            

My understanding from the recent USPTO Independent Inventor conference I attended is that there is a 12 month grace period from the date of the first “public disclosure” of the concept. 

(fyi. Submissions through me are considered Nonpublic and Confidential so are not effected by this rule). 

In any case,

An Inventor Notebook is recommended to document the invention from the start.  

This allows inventors to pitch their concepts to people like me

Without spending a lot up front on patent costs for a product that will never be licensed. ”                                                                                                             

          Carrie Jeske             

Once you have interest from a licensor, file a patent then.

I’m an advocate of high quality legal council at the time it’s needed most.

Attorneys of course, disagree among themselves on strategy.

Find one you’re comfortable with. This strategy is perfect for ASOTV or other first to market, short term product life cycle inventions.

If your invention is more complex or has a longer life cycle,

AND you’ve evaluated it fully for viability.

Then you may want to just move forward with a utility patent from the start.

          Carrie Jeske           

Finally,

 ASOTV products usually don’t require a patent at all,

because of the First to Market strategic approach

and the distribution channel is controlled.  

For this channel, the patent or no patent call is really a matter of preference from the inventor.  We pay royalties either way.

          Paul Skelton                

 Thanks Carrie!  So without a patent, what obligates any ASOTV company to pay inventors any royalties at all?  Couldn’t they just be First to Market?                                                                                                        

      Carrie Jeske                

The inventor notebook proves the inventor of the product by date.  Some steps may vary, but the bottom line is that’s what the Term Sheet or Licensing Agreement are what confirm royalties to the inventor.

 Once we agree to test (put money into) an ASOTV test

A Term Sheet explaining royalties is agreed upon.  

If the test is successful,

A Licensing Agreement is signed. 

If it is not, the concept rolls back to the inventor to pursue or not pursue as they determine best.                                                                                                              

      Carrie Jeske              

There are many opinions on the right strategy here.  For me, the bottom line is to work with people who can help you that you like and trust.   I value high quality, long term relationships and hope inventors will choose me.  

Let me see your concepts first,

Before they are spammed

into every invention submission contest,

because it increases my chances of working it through the subjective part of the process. 

When people spam their concepts all over town, it makes then no longer special and hurts their chances of an agreement more than it helps it.                                                                                                              

       Carrie Jeske                

 Paul… fantastic questions and comments here.  Thanks for engaging.

If you’re into social networking, please connect with me on:

FACEBOOK      LINKEDIN        YOUTUBE       TWITTER

Carrie Jeske

The post How To Protect Ideas with The Inventor Notebook appeared first on Inventive Ideas, LLC.

Your idea will not be stolen.  You can’t ever really be sure, but in general, ideas are NOT stolen.  Products that are selling well ARE.  To combat this learn about IP and product protection strategies to avoid knock-offs.

Proving a product idea takes thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of $$ to get to market.  Most companies are not willing to take that risk for an unproven concept.

Inventors have to start trusting someone, somewhere.    My best advice is trust your intuition.  Don’t buy service unless you know in writing what you’ll get and when you’ll get it.   Educate yourself with books, blogs, social networks, training videos and be sure you know what you need, then specifically ask for it.

Get non-disclosures signed if you don’t have a provisional patent and sometimes, even if you do.   Don’t depend on them though.    The USPTO recommends you use an Inventor Notebook.   Although the USA is now a “First To File” rather than “First To Invent” country, the regulations allow for a 12 month grace period to file.    For AS SEEN on TV products, this is good news because we can look at concepts all day long with little out of pocket expense to the inventor.   If you come up with something we move forward on, you can file your patent applications at that time.

Take the shot.

Life is best learned by doing, rather than sitting on the sidelines afraid.   There are no guarantees.

My extensive experience is that the scam artists in the inventor community are more interested in charging people for services they don’t really need, then putting money toward products they’re uncertain of.

Here’s a link to my bio.   I can’t promise I can help you, but I can promise to tell you the truth and give you honest feedback on what I think you should do next.  The rest is up to you.

How to Protect Your Business Idea Without a Patent by Stephen Key
Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226595#ixzz2TODzbGsa

Carrie Jeske

If you’re into social networking, please connect with me on:

FACEBOOK      LINKEDIN        YOUTUBE       TWITTER

Carrie Jeske

The post How can I be sure that my idea will not be stolen? appeared first on Inventive Ideas, LLC.