Thank God for Replicators

[dan]

an idea is as strong as it's weakest link.

being a primadonna and sitting on a real idea has been shown to be a quick ticket to the morgue.
instead of being a sitting duck for all the big gun industerialist, give away 'a basic working system', then do as the brownbag software folks have done for years. when an idea or a system is proven in the real world of daily useage, the idea sells itself. when many different people have a real working system or item in hand, you can sell the 'upgrades for your profit'.(read this as 'delayed larger profit'.)

if an idea is really useful, such as new or novel software, the brownbag system of distribution is a viable way for distribution of those ideas and software and equipment. (and it has proven to keep honest folks out of the morgue)

i suggest this brownbag way of 'selling/profiting' may merit being investigated as a viable way to 'sell your ideas' without having to die for them..

dan

[BushWacker]

100 years ago the idea of securing a patent on ones conceptual idea's/inventions was intended to provide a level of security to the individual/inventor. Now days things are considerably different! Corporations have become multi-billion dollar power broker's who can easily pay whatever is required to get around the problem and security that patents used to provide in helping the little guy. All that is needed to obtain their own new patent is to make almost any slight change to the original patent design/specifications, and that is all it takes to obtain controll from that point on. Today it is much wiser to register for a trademark application for a product than to bother with all the mess and legal issues involved with securing a patent. Once a product or technology has a registered trademark/name, and goes into widespread distribution, people will remember and recognize that name and/or trademark as symbolic of the product or technology. The secret to being successful at marketing something and building a name for something is in production and widespread distribution nowdays, and the little guy no longer stands a snowballs chance in he__ to make it in the big league so-to-speak if he/she wastes their time worrying about securing a patent before going into production. The patent system is outdated and obsolete anymore because it no longer provides the kind of safety that it was originally set-up to provide for the little guy. So, I agree with Dan on this one.

Cheers,

Bush Wacker

[PaulLowrance]

Yes but we're talking about giving the world free energy, not making an individual filthy rich.  I say to first publish.  Publishing only takes a matter of minutes on the internet.  I don't know much about patents but if it's that difficult then what about my suggestion for a quick self patent.  There are a lot of books on the self patent method.

Sincerely,
Paul

[PaulLowrance]

Dear Bush Wacker,

Today it is much wiser to register for a trademark application for a product than to bother with all the mess and legal issues involved with securing a patent.

I was just told that a trademark would give the inventor no protection.  Is this true?

Sincerely,
Paul

[Kysmett]

I work for two of the most recognised Intellectual Property authorities in the states (one of them around the world).--they have testified before the legilatures of the US, Japan, China, Indonesia, et al.   I can tell you that TM protection is different from Patent in that you trade mark names, slogans, and logos.  The function of the device is a non-issue.  If you wanted to protect a box that you claimed fairies lived in, you could.  If you called it the Fairy Palace, no one else would be able to use that name, also the graphic of how you present that name is protected.  TM is marketing protection, it is pretty strong, at that.  Branding(as it is called) is oftem more important than function or quality.  It is easier to get a TM registered, than a patent, and even similar names and logos can be prosecuted.