Patent/invention Question

If I remember later when I get home I'll point you at some patent research
sites and a patent researcher (a mate) if you're really serious.

 

You invented that? My god man, you could be rich!

 

Just put all the details up here and we'll let you know if it's
worthwhile.

 

I dunno if patent law has changed in recent years, but from what I can
remember, once something is patented, anyone can look at the designs in
the patent - then once it runs out in 17 years or so, it's whoever gets
back to the patent office first with the application that gets it.

There's another thing called the trade secrets act (if it's not patented),
which prevents people from nicking your idea, but will not protect you
against someone else coming up with exactly the same idea totally
independantly from you. A patent will protect you from the latter, but
the former is possible as people will have access to your design specs.

 

<snip>

Is this a patent for the correct time stamping of USENET posts?

 

I woke up this morning with one of those eureka moments. You know where
you suddenly think why the hell hasn't someone invented X. So my question
is where do I go from here. I guess I need to make sure that no
one_has_thought of it before. After that what? Patent it? How much does
this cost? Any alternatives? How about approaching a company with the
idea. How can I stop them nicking it and making it anyway?


Any experiences?

 

Time machine obviously, he's testing it out.

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

The Biggest Tip of the Lot...

DON'T TELL ANY FUCKER WHAT IT IS UNTIL YOU HAVE THE PATENT IN YOUR MITT.
(apart from your patent agent, of course)

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

It may sound daft but I don't want to spend a fortune on this if
possible.I know all the best inventions probably nearly bankrupted the
inventor before making then multi millionaires but I don't want that risk,
a small commision would be good.


Cheers anyway. I'm off to see what google throws up, I just thought ukrm
is the sort of place that someone would have done this sort of thing

 

You're just trying to cover up so we don't nick your time machine idea.

 

I guess it has some flaws though otherwise he'd be able to go back and
change the post so we wouldn't know.

 

lol

 

entwisi secured a place in history by writing:

Write it down in detail, put it in a sealed envelope (possibly two or
three) and post it to yourself recorded delivery. But if it's really good
you should patent it.

 

"You can't step twice into the same river" - Heraclitus.

 

Depends on the river surely.

 

You I know this is a bit weird because my PC clock says 14:31 as I post
this, the setting is BST but whenever I post it seems to 'add' one hour
onto the posts. I haven't had chance to do any in depth investigation but
hope to this weekend.

 

The weirder bit is that my newsreader shows the time as correct.

 

LoL, wait till you see the cost of a three continent patent. I won't spoil
the surprise by telling you...

 

no, it doesn't, which is the point.

 

The company I work for used to have a "patent" department whose job it
was to look through patents for similar processes to their own and then
blag the bits they liked and call it something different, apparently
this process is quite common with little or no comeback.