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burdlaw.com
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Toolbox For The Independent
Inventor
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This
page is provided as a public service for the benefit of Independent
Inventors, who are the source of many of the most important inventions
in history, so that they might avoid scams and have a better chance to
profit from their inventions and thus encourage others to do the same.
Let
us know how we can make it even more useful to you.
Bruce E. Burdick,
webmaster
The Burdick Law Firm
For
basic starting information inventors should start with the official website of the
U S Patent
and Trademark Office
www.uspto.gov
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DON'T
GET SCAMMED!
The
single most important thing
for the individual inventor starting out is to be
cautious and avoid the unscrupulous
invention submission
to industry scams, inventor "help" scams, invention tech
marketing scams, invention technology review scams, or other similar
invention promotion scams that ask for up front money and prey on the
unwary inventor's enthusiasm, usually by advertising heavily on TV,
in magazines or on the internet. Your first step should be to
either (1.)
see a registered patent attorney (ask for a free initial 1/2 hr
consultation, and if the attorney won't do it find another one who will,
such as our firm, so
you can get GOOD free initial advice)
and/or (2.) contact your
local patent
depositary library for assistance, or (3.) contact
your
local inventors' association. Please, don't pay anyone any money for help on your invention
until you have done one of those three things. This can save you
thousands of dollars and get you on the right track quickly. As an
inventor I know you want to hear good things about your invention, but
the
"Truth"
is what you need and the truth may be that you are wasting your time, so
don't be blinded by false praise, false promises or false predictions of
success and look at the documentation carefully. Google the
company for information. Look particularly for
an "Affirmative Disclosure Statement" (now required by law for
promoters) and see if
you would really do business with any company with the indicated rate of
success, which is often well under 1%-- see
http://www.inventnet.com/scam.html for more informatio.
See if the firm appears on the US Patent and Trademark Office complaint
page
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/data.htm#LicensePromotion.
Check www.ftc.gov for
helpful information on who has been fined or the subject
of complaints. |
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Patent Searching
Google Patents
(fast, powerful, user-friendly, superb quick results
Free Patents
Online
(marvelous, good for experienced searcher, free pdf copies of
patents, fast and slick)
USA
- Novice
(official USPTO patent search website for beginners)
USA - Advanced
(the site used by many experienced patent searchers--we think FreePatentsOnline
is currently better)
Patentability Searches
(our article describing patent searching basics)
Surf IP
(Singapore's very powerful international patent search engine--for pros
but computer savvy users can work it to great advantage.
IPSearchEngine,com
(expensive, but currently the state of the art in patent searching) |
Some Good Inventor Product/Services
Sites:
Patent
Cafe (the undisputed top dog of Inventor
assistance sites - very commercial)
Nolo,
Inc. (do-it-yourself legal products, also very commercial, but good
products for novices)
United Inventors Association (coordinates
Inventor groups in US, very informative, a top reference warning about
invention promotion scams)
GreatIdeaGear.com (inventor
aids)
Invention
University, LLC (training
for inventors)
InventNET (chat room for
inventors)
PlanetPatent (inventor
aids)
inventRight (inventor
aids & tools)
Ask
the Inventors (email
network)
Inventors Headquarters
www.inventorshq.com
Patent Search International:
www.patentsearchinternational.com
Berglin, Inc. (make
everything):
www.berglin.com
Patent Lessons:
www.patentlessons.com |
Featured Site:
www.howstuffworks.com
this is a fantastic educational site dedicated to helping you understand
the technology behind almost everything. If you ever wondered how
something does what is does, this is the place to find out.
Amazing artwork and terrific inside operational views of sorts of
devices. We love this site and highly recommend it. |
Our Articles for Inventors & Innovators
What is a Patent
a basic article we have for our new patent clients
Foreign Patent Protection
when you want to expand overseas
What is a Copyright
the basics of copyright protection and strategy
Handling Confidential Information
a corporate guideline
Patent Infringement 101
some basic principles of patent litigation
Westrum Report
good policy information
SCORE Reference Materials
- Great business start up materials
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Some Excellent Basic Advice Articles:
Turning your gadget into gold
(Forbes)
How To Protect Your Invention When Pitching It (Forbes)
Useful book:
Patent It Yourself (says not to)
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Presented to you as a public service by
THE BURDICK LAW FIRM
618-462-3450 or 314-256-9314 Fax:
618-208-1712
burdlaw@gmail.com
Protecting creations by creating protections™ |
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