[FulcrumPilot]

Someone wants my help solving some engineering problem that may result in some kind of patent eventually, which he offered we can co-apply. he has the money and I don't (so this a factor that makes me wonder). This same person dissed my ideas many many years ago and said it won't work, too complex etc. This person now wants to use what I have been developing regardless, but wants to apply to solve a problem slightly related to what I have been trying to solve all along. Without my help I dont think he can do much, will waste a lot of time I am pretty sure. We can get the idea patented so that will benefit me, and he gets to use it for free to solve his application problem, this will get him more money due to the end product. What would you do? Would you help him out if you were me? Please discuss, I get confused easily on these matters. Thanks a lot in advance.

[dillerX]

get a contract. specify EXACTLY what you want before you do any work.

[euchomai]

VaPOOrise?

[f1000]

Originally posted by FulcrumPilot:
Someone wants my help solving some engineering problem that may result in some kind of patent eventually, which he offered we can co-apply. he has the money and I don't (so this a factor that makes me wonder). This same person dissed my ideas many many years ago and said it won't work, too complex etc. This person now wants to use what I have been developing regardless, but wants to apply to solve a problem slightly related to what I have been trying to solve all along. Without my help I dont think he can do much, will waste a lot of time I am pretty sure. We can get the idea patented so that will benefit me, and he gets to use it for free to solve his application problem, this will get him more money due to the end product. What would you do? Would you help him out if you were me? Please discuss, I get confused easily on these matters. Thanks a lot in advance.

If this someone is simply going to finance the patent application, then he cannot claim to be a co-inventor on it; that would be illegal. Only true inventors can list their names on the patent application. This is no small issue. If your patent encounters "interference" from a competitor, your partner may have to show a judge any documentation or lab notebooks that confirm his participation in the invention process. These notebooks must be signed, dated, and witnessed to hold up in court, so it's hard to fabricate them after the fact. If a competitor can prove that your patent application contained fraudulent information, the USPTO can invalidate the entire patent.

What this person wants to do is own the rights to your idea. If you haven't made any money off this idea so far, then you might as well take his in exchange for assigning him the rights to the patent.

Let me propose an alternative. File a Provisional Patent Application for $80, and then see if anybody other than your friend is interested in licensing your idea. The Provisional Patent Application, or PPA, is not a patent; however, it gives you up to a year to submit your non-provisional (i.e., official) patent while keeping the earlier filing date. It also makes it harder for someone to take your idea after you show it to them.

Nolo publishes a book by Richard Stim & David Pressman called "Patent Pending in 24 Hours." I strongly suggest that you read it.

[FulcrumPilot]

Originally posted by f1000:
If this someone is simply going to finance the patent application, then he cannot claim to be a co-inventor on it; that would be illegal. Only true inventors can list their names on the patent application. This is no small issue. If your patent encounters "interference" from a competitor, your partner may have to show a judge any documentation or lab notebooks that confirm his participation in the invention process. These notebooks must be signed, dated, and witnessed to hold up in court, so it's hard to fabricate them after the fact. If a competitor can prove that your patent application contained fraudulent information, the USPTO can invalidate the entire patent.

What this person wants to do is own the rights to your idea. If you haven't made any money off this idea so far, then you might as well take his in exchange for assigning him the rights to the patent.

Let me propose an alternative. File a Provisional Patent Application for $80, and then see if anybody other than your friend is interested in licensing your idea. The Provisional Patent Application, or PPA, is not a patent; however, it gives you up to a year to submit your non-provisional (i.e., official) patent while keeping the earlier filing date. It also makes it harder for someone to take your idea after you show it to them.

Nolo publishes a book by Richard Stim & David Pressman called "Patent Pending in 24 Hours." I strongly suggest that you read it.

Wow! Great advice!! the point is that my process/approach shows a lot of promise but it is not there yet, and I think my colleague realizes that the way I am doing it is the only way to get there! So he wants to pool in his resources, he has some serious drafting talent in him and he knows that we could get there faster together than for him to start without me, so in effect there will be some contribution from his side, its like he is hitching a ride with me suddenly realizing that he is not going to get a ride and get there as fast as I can. He surely gains more in the short run. Get what I mean? But thanks! I will read that book for sure!