fred

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The spirit be with you!
If it aint got a steel, it aint real

Jeez.....

Where's the egress?

The ad in the newspaper read like this:

"GUARANTEED WAY TO GET RID OF ROACHES!!

ONLY $1.00. Send to the following address. Sorry no refunds"

The address was given. It is my understanding over 100,000 sent in the dollar. And this was in 1954!

When one got the product it was two small wooden blocks about 2 inches square. The instructions read as follows:

1. Find Roach.

2. Put roach on one of the blocks.

3. Take the other block and smash roach.

I also understand that legal attempts to prosecute were thwarted because the perpertarator made NO false claims.

Now, if I could come up with a device that made a steel sound like a guitar, THEN I'd have something!

Maybe a herbal nutritional supplement... Get Ron Jeremy to host the infomercial... hmmm?

Gotta run to Dallas. Cya guys.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

What a deal!

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Sho~Bud Pro I, Fender D-8 (C6&E13) http://www.darkmagneto.com

This type of thing (ideas for sale) comes up frequently on ebay. In fact, do a search on ebay for "inventions", and you'll even find a (new design?) blimp patent available...for the paltry sum of $10,000,000.

Donny H. it seems he is selling the rights to go get the patent.
The person who applies for a patent first wins. If the inventor doesn't tough luck.

I was just sent the link for an granted patent for a friends invention. I am a sleeping partner. But I have been watching the process for awhile.

[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 11 March 2004 at 10:08 AM.]

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Sho-Bud ProII
"there's been an awful murder, down on music row!"

quote:

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The person who applies for a patent first wins. If the inventor doesn't tough luck.

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I don't know the laws in France, David, but in the United States, that's simply not the case. I won't bother to quote our patent statutes chapter and verse, but suffice it to say that unless you actually did the inventing...your name cannot appear on the patent. You cannot steal, or patent, someone else's invention. Even if you furnished financial aid to the inventor so he could develop and patent his invention, your name cannot appear on the patent application!

I could design a widget, send it to you, you file for a patent with no mention of me, and I have absolutley no recourse.

Unless I had dropped copies of the work to that affect with a patent attorny and with proper notorization etc IN ADVANCE of your pattenting the device.
Then it would ensue a decade long legal fight.

I was under the impression that was WHY you patented something, as legal proof of your invention.

quote:

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I could design a widget, send it to you, you file for a patent with no mention of me, and I have absolutley no recourse.

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Not true. All you have to do is prove it's your idea, and that you did it first. If I patent your device, and it's discovered that it wasn't my idea, not only would my patent be null and void, but I could also be fined and go to prison for filing a fraudulent document with the U.S. government if I did the above knowingly. The quote below is taken right from the U.S. Patent Office website...

quote:

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According to the law, only the inventor may apply for a patent, with certain exceptions. If a person who is not the inventor should apply for a patent, the patent, if it were obtained, would be invalid. The person applying in such a case who falsely states that he/she is the inventor would also be subject to criminal penalties.

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So you see, David, I'd better make sure it's my idea before I try to patent it!

Bobby says...

quote:

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It's been my experience that the boss gets his name on the patent, whether he did
any of the inventing or not.

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Well, here's what the official U.S. Patent Office website has to say about that...

quote:

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The application must be signed by the true inventor, and filed in the USPTO, in the inventor’s name. This is the person who furnishes the ideas (e.g. the first person in the above fact pattern), not the employer or the person who furnishes the money.

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So you see, General Motors doesn't "invent" anything. If you work for them, and develop something used on their cars, you're still the inventor. Now, you may have assigned them the rights to anything you invent (this little "document" is usually included in your employment application process), and in that case they would be the "assignee" on that patent, and they would have all the rights to use it. Nevertheless, it remains your invention.

[This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 12 March 2004 at 01:45 AM.]

You could invent something and I could patent it, but on which side lies the burdon of proof.

I would have to in some rather undefined way PROVE I actually did invent it.
How? In a manner that would stand in a court of law. Sure if I worked for GM in thier labs there would be a big paper trail.

But some guy in his basement working alone, has some guy his wife let in delivering fuel oil, see his invention and run with it, he has no proof because he has no paper trail. MAybe the wife knows what he does maybe not.

But how does he prove he invented anything?
I am not debunking what you say above. Just noting the problematic nature of the issue.

quote:

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The application must be signed by the true inventor, and filed in the USPTO, in the inventor’s name. This is the person who furnishes the ideas (e.g. the first person in the above fact pattern), not the employer or the person who furnishes the money.

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