The world famous inventor of the wind-up radio gives some tips on how to take your invention to market and prevent your idea from getting stolen!


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Video Transcription

How often do you have that good idea? As an inventor, you would have gotten up in the morning and said you are going to invent something, but invariably what happens is you trip over the carpet or something like that and that just leads you to think about that great idea. Now, first of all, is there a need for this product? That is the first thing because there could be ten or twenty or thirty products out there that are so, so similar to yours. By the time you have made it and you have got the money to drive it forward, is it realistically going to make your living? The first thing you have to remember is that you must not go down the pub and tell everybody about it because once you have done it, it is in the public domain, in other words, somebody else is going to nick it from you. Now, in our line of work, we are called mad inventors and you know why? Because we are paranoid that someone is going to nick our great idea. The next thing is to get it on the IPO and that is the Intellectual Property Office. You can see them on the website for the IPO, it should be easy to find! Then literally read all about it. Now, there are a number of ways of doing it. The best way undoubtedly if it is an invention is to go after patents. This is where I strongly recommend that you use an IP lawyer because they can write literally without punctuation. Patents can be self navigated. If it is not written up properly, somebody could look at your patent and find a way around it to get it and nick your idea. So that is one of your creations! Sometimes, believe it or not, you might be better off getting a trademark. Now, how can a trademark be of an advantage? Well, let us say you have invented a titanium horseshoe? Yes, but how do I protect the idea, with a trademark! What? You form a company—a titanium horseshoe company and then you have titaniumhorseshoe.com! Now, anybody who wants a titanium horseshoe will come straight to you! See, the name is in the trademark. Very often you know of trademarks so well, the very finest names! And you instinctively know that that means something. The other way forward of course is for the Design Registration. Now, a design registration is somewhat different because basically, what it comes down to is you take an existing invention which has been published and have been out for many, many years, but you alter it in a distinctive way to make it look distinctly yours! And then of course, the other part of the equation is what we call copyright and this is the thing that most people enjoy automatically when they write a book for example or when do a film or something, they should automatically and it does not cost them anything. You have this thing called copyright, however, with the new technology of course, it is very easy to get in around the back. These books that are now being published should give you all those different points of view with far, far more information. All the little bits and pieces that I am unable—in a short period of time to describe to you on camera can be contained is in fact contained in those books!