Need your advice (patent, trademark, copyright)

**islandcreation** · 12-22-2008 05:08 AM

Okay, I have been searching for a good forum that would help me with my dilemma. I plan on creating a product that is similar to another product created by another company. Example is of what I'm talking about. A door knob does the same function but the characteristics aew diffrent. I noticed that on the site their site it doesn't say patent pending or patented. All it states is trademark and copyright. So I know that less than 10% of items patented generate positive income. And that the cost of patenting an idea is generally $10,000. This item isn't going to generate millions of dollars nor will it allow me to leave my fulltime job. Its basically love for the hobby that I am in. So where can I go from here? I trully don't want to patent this idea since the cost is very high, basically its the same reason why I think that the product similar wasn't patented by the other website.

1. Should I pay for an attorney to research whether or not its patented? Cost about $250-$500 or since there isn't a patent pending or patented label on the site its an indication I can create a similar product?

**Auspreneur** · 12-22-2008 04:26 PM

I guess the best thing to do is ask yourself why do you want a patent?

By getting a patent what do you intend on doing?

Just because they don't have a patent on the product doesn't mean that you can get one. Their product is already in the public domain which will make it very hard.

**islandcreation** · 12-22-2008 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by Auspreneur

I guess the best thing to do is ask yourself why do you want a patent?

By getting a patent what do you intend on doing?

Just because they don't have a patent on the product doesn't mean that you can get one. Their product is already in the public domain which will make it very hard.

I don't want a patent. Even if the product is in the eye of the public domain why would it be very hard to get a patent? Patents are made to protect the individuals invention so no one can duplicate the product. So my understanding is who ever gets it patented first gets the right to produce the product. In this case these individuals didn't patent the idea because it wasn't lucrative to spend the $10,000 plus dollars it would cost to get a patent. If this was the case I think I have the right to create a similar product since they don't have a patent.

Obviously this is about making money rather than spending money. I guess its the whole scenario with he rubik's cube. Even if it was a very popular toy world wide it was never patented. The only thig it had was the trademark of the name. So my thinking is an individual could have made a similar but had to call it another name.

I'm just trying to get professional advice from individuals who have knowledge about my scenario, or atleast can chime in from their experience. For me, I'm just going by common sense from a business perspective. I have no experience with this particular subject, but I did alot of research on this subject to have atleast the foundation. So if anyone can help me out I'd appreciate with it.

**Auspreneur** · 12-23-2008 04:29 PM

Ok Let’s just clear a few things up. A patent DOES NOT protect a product, a patent provides you with the right to protect the product.

Secondly you can not patent something that is already out in the public domain. Hence why the rubiks cube never had a patent it was sold before anybody had a patent on it. Some people even sell there invention on ebay to a friend which classes as public domain. Whether this will hold up in court I don’t know.

If somebody infringes on your product you are going to need a lot more then $10,000 to get anything out of them.

In this sort of situation the best thing to do is spend your money on building a brand name and keep one step ahead of the competition.