I have made some changes to my shoes from time to time (slight adjustments etc. ). I have come up with a new idea for a shoe design which I think would work very well. Whom should I contact? shoe company? patent attorney? other .... no idea
I have made some changes to my shoes from time to time (slight adjustments etc. ). I have come up with a new idea for a shoe design which I think would work very well. Whom should I contact? shoe company? patent attorney? other .... no idea
I'd say go to www.uspto.gov and go to the "quick search" section and type in the word(s) that best describe what you are trying to accomplish. This would allow you see how crowded the field is for your idea. If you come out of that with confidence, then find a patent specialist to help you file. Then go to a shoe company.
Big companies are notorious for stealing idea submissions. People set up meetings, show off their invention or idea, get rejected by the company and 6 mos later see the company marketing their idea without paying them a penny. The inventor now has to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars on attorney's fees to litigate for years on an intellectual property claim.
If after doing your own patent search, you think you really have something that is truly novel (that is the key word in patent law), then find a good patent attorney. A lot of the work done on securing a patent is done by non-attorney patent agents. It isn't cheap, but it is a lot cheaper than litigation. An attorney can also help you with your idea submission and negoitate a license of your patent if someone bites. Also, realize that if you get a patent in the US, you are not necessarily protected in other countries. Make sure your attorney understands that the market for shoes is international. Be careful and good luck.
Companies are in a bind. They want to see new ideas but what if those ideas are the same as ones their full time designers are working on?
For that you have to go to records of when inventions were first recorded by the inventor.
Lots of people thinking about a problem come up with the same idea.
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