Re: 360 degree video real time... interested?

[Steve Uhrig <Steve@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 24 Apr 2005 23:32:35 -0400, "z" <rmwbsee@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Any other thoughts on marketing patent legal issues is still welcome.
> Thanks again, to all who contribute.

I admire the innovation many have expressed.

I hate to be a wet blanket, but a very similar product already is in
the Homeland Security market. I read a new product release about 3
weeks ago in several of the government publications.

However, research what's out there and see if you can do it better.

Re patents, research Don Lancaster's online articles on the matter.
It's unlikely you can afford a patent to start with, and by filing you
release all details into the public domain.

Start here. First hit on Google:

http://www.tinaja.com/patnt01.html

Then a patent simply gives you legal right to sue someone who violates
it. If a large company can out-lawyer you, you lose. It is a common
misconception competitors or persons wishing to use your intellectual
property will buy it from you or pay you a commission.

They won't. They'll spend the money instead to break your patent, and
there are very few which can't be broken by someone determined to do
so.

There now is an annual fee for keeping a patent alive, which costs you
whether you do anything with it or not.

Stats show perhaps 1% of items or ideas patented actually are brought
to market.

And someone else working on the same idea simply can build the thing
offshore where you can't touch them.

Figure it will run not less than  $50K and likely a good bit more,
using a mandatory attorney, to file and obtain a patent. From start to
finish will be several years.

You're better off keeping the details quiet, not patenting, and
getting in and out of the market and make your money quickly.

My father has 25 electronic patents in the defense industry. As a kid
he and I did patent searches together, he taught me to write
disclosures and all the ins and outs. It's gotten worse, not better. I
never bothered to patent any of our company's products. We simply
marketed them as soon as possible, got in and captured the early
sales, and built a reputation and deep niche in the technology while
other companies were taking their time getting to market. My company
was manufacturing commercial and government wireless video before
anyone else had heard of it for surveillance. We still sell it, even
with all the competition, and never patented any of it.

Keep working and innovating, but maybe team up with a business
manager. Engineers don't run companies very well.

Your project sounds interesting. I hope you are able to do something
with it, or a child of it. Nice to see someone actually using their
brain on innovation and finding solutions to problems.

Steve


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Steve Uhrig, SWS Security, Maryland (USA)
Mfrs of electronic surveillance equip
mailto:Steve@xxxxxxxxxx  website http://www.swssec.com
tel +1+410-879-4035, fax +1+410-836-1190
"In God we trust, all others we monitor"
RIP Ken KE3I, SK 10/30/04. Rest easy, my good friend
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