Any of you Baws ever invent something and had it patented?

Post it Notes

working for a company for an SBIR or as an individual

almost went the individual route, but the attorneys are expensive and I was worried the idea would just get tweaked by the industry I wanted to eventually license to and I wouldn't be able to enforce the patent. Guess I just didn't have the balls.

got one at work where I own part of the IP though.

Jump to Conclusions mat

Actually, I did. I was a chemical engineer working for a major chemical company. I developed a cost savings way to produce a widely used chemical. My boss got co-credit, and, of course, since we worked for a corporation, the company got the full rights to the process.

I invented the apple computer

I've invented a couple of products. I commercialized the first and it gives us a nice little return. The second just got provisional patent approval and we'll roll out in the next 30 days. We're expecting good things from that as well. Both are manufactured products in the advertising field, and we manufacture here in Baton Rouge.

I had provisional approval on the first product but didn't make enough money early on to pay for the utility patent (which has the be filed within one year following the provisional, and which exists mainly to establish priority at the patent office in the event that utility applications are filed by two different parties for the same invention). So we just kept producing, and in 9 years no one has knocked us off except a couple of customers for their own use, so no big loss.

It's an interesting process and the patent lawyers are definitely a different breed. I'm working with one right now in a matter involving my day job. The guy has a BS from the University of Michigan in aeronautical engineering, an MS in Mechanical Engineering, from MIT no less, and then a law degree. Unreal.

You'd think that these guys (and girls as well) would all be tech geeks, but the reality is they are lawyers first, and the tech background exists mainly as a vehicle to allow them to practice patent law. It's a real waste of talent when you think about it.

But yeah, go out there and figure out something that no one else is doing, or figure out a better way to do something, and invent something that solves the problem. Then get behind it 100% and don't stop until you've got a company off the ground. If you're lucky, you can insulate yourself from local economic fluctuations, make some money, and have a little fun.

Sorry for running on, and Go Tigers..!

Pornhub

They are a couple of banner display systems that are now in national distribution.

Been having a million dollar idea. Just never went thru with it. And yes, it's something everybody uses every day.