Running a think tank is a very interesting profession and it's something I do in my retirement. One thing I have noticed about entrepreneurs with inventions, innovations, ideas, and new concepts is they often don't want to talk about them, as they are afraid someone else might steal their idea. I guess I can understand that, as I have a ton of new ideas, and original thoughts every month. Still, it should be known that just because you have an idea doesn't mean someone else hasn't already had that same idea, and that someone else doesn't already have a patent on it.
Let's talk a little bit about patent philosophy, and where I'm coming from on my comments here; you see, generally an inventor will ask me to sign a non-compete or nondisclosure agreement on their idea, however over the years I've stopped doing this for a couple of reasons. Generally, I sign their nondisclosure agreement, only to find out their idea is something I've already had, or considered decades ago, and have probably even written an article on it, or their idea and innovation has already been patented, often by more than one group, company, or individual inventor.
In other words, they had me sign a nondisclosure agreement before they even did a patent search, or even pulled up Google Patents online search feature to see if their idea had already been taken. The other day an inventor came to me and said they had this great idea, and he told me it was wonderful, and all that jazz, and it would revolutionize five different industries. So finally I gave in and I agreed to a nondisclosure agreement in an e-mail. Then when they told me of their idea, I just shook my head for them wasting my time.
You see, I went to Google Patent search, and I pulled up 15 patents which were very similar to their idea, and then e-mailed them all the links. And then they told me; "oh well, I should've known better," and I'd say to that, yes they should have, or they should've looked first, before wasting anyone else's time. One thing I find is that we have a problem with communication when everyone is running around trying to keep a secret, especially when - it's not even a secret at all. Further, most of these inventors are never going to do anything with their idea anyway, and even if they were, they don't even know how to get started.
Lastly, a good number of these inventors and innovators are completely broke, they sit around thinking all day, and they've never done anything or collected enough money to make good on any of their ideas or concepts. It's hard to say who is to blame. Is it the patent office for making things too difficult, although with Google patent search, that seems to be an old problem which is really no longer relevant. Maybe the problem is that too many patents are being awarded for ideas, rather than prototypes.
Indeed, I ask that you please consider all this and think on it, and realize this is just patent law philosophy 101. Yes, you should probably have an inventor's book, and write in it appropriately with dates, and no spaces between the pages. And if you find you have a great invention which no one has ever thought of before, you should probably file for a patent, and get the ball rolling, and have people sign nondisclosure agreements. But do your homework, don't waste other people's time, or expect them to do your homework for you. And if you are really serious, contact a decent patent attorney and do it right. I hope you will please consider all this.
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