|
The Complete Idiot's Guide to
Cashing in On Your
Inventions
by Richard C. Levy
Pearson
ISBN: 0028642201
September 28, 2001
Read
Reviews
How This Book Is Organized
I have designed this book to be a quick-access resource
companion to accompany you throughout your journey from
"What if?" to the deal and, hopefully, to riches (though financial
reward must not be the only thing that drives you).
The sequence is a step-by-step blueprint for overcoming your
fears, building your confidence, taking pride in your ideas,
adapting to change, taking risks, and taking control.
Part 1 - How to Get Your Great Ideas on the Road
shares
America's greatest traditions and visions as a center of innovation
and free enterprise, home to the world's most prolific, daring,
and successful inventors and entrepreneurs. Through all the
wit, color, and homespun truth I could muster, it asks you
to look at yourself and realize that on any given day your
dream can come true. But for this to happen, you must have
the "Dare to Go," know where to go, and what to do when you
get there.
The most important part of this book appears in Part 1. It
instructs you in how avoid being ripped-off by carrion birds who
toil under the guise of reputable invention marketing services.
Part 1 helps you analyze whether it's better to license your
invention or seek "adventure capital" and build a business.
By the time you finish reading Part 1, if I have done my job well,
you will have started to highlight parts of these pages with a
yellow marker.
Part 2 - Getting High Marks
assumes you have opted to go
the licensing route. If, however, you want to establish your own
manufacturing and marketing operation, then take four giant
steps to Part 3.
Part 2 explains how to find the right company for your invention,
get through the door, pitch the idea, and make a deal if you are
fortunate enough to be afforded an opportunity. It's all about the
hunt!
Part 3 - Goin' for the Gold
takes you to the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office. Learn what makes it tick and how you can
take advantage of its invaluable services. You'll also learn ways to
conduct a search for prior art.
It wraps on a very important issue-how to hire competent patent
counsel.
Part 4 - Uncle Sam Wants (to Help) You!
explains the
different kinds of IP protection -- e.g., utility patent, plant
patent, design patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret.
The information is designed as a primer, not to take the place of a
patent counsel. The final chapter in Part 4 takes you behind the
scenes at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a look at how
your application will be handled.
Part 5 - People Who Share, People Who Dare
Uncle
Sam has gone from being a principal customer of technology
to wanting to share its technologies with private industry
and build partnerships. There is a smorgasbord of delicious
opportunities for you, and Chapter 19 is the appetizer. Chapter
20 gives you a primer on the toy industry, one of the last
great frontiers for the entrepreneurial inventor.
While I can do nothing to alleviate patent fees, I can help reduce
your legal expenses. To that end, I have provided a confidential
nondisclosure form and a licensing agreement that you can use as
templates for your own transactions, potentially saving your
lawyer hours of work and you thousands of dollars.
| 
