Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

If you are trying to contact a pharmaceutical company, the best bet is to contact their business development group.

Qromeo, I`m going through the same process as you right now with my own product that is patent pending.  I have managed get one potential licensee interested but they lack focus.  In November they tested the prototype as a go / no go decision and results were great.  It`s been over a year since I began talking to them and I`m still waiting for the next step.  So as you can see even after getting interest it can be very hard to move something along.

I had the same thinking as you do about companies stealing my idea.  But after thinking about the money I had invested and the difficulty I was having in "sharing" my idea, I finally said enough and began showing and discussing the product in the open with no NDA.  That`s when I began getting valuable feedback and getting this far with this potential licensee.

Note that I also submitted my idea to a large corp website and it said that it takes 6 months to hear back.  It`s going to be 6 months this month and I`m not confident I`ll hear back.

Most big corporations are not interested in licensing any invention.  They believe they already have their R&D for that.

I got into an even worse situation: even their president was interested in my invention, as he was 3 years ago.  But this time it`s different: they now belong to a larger corporation.  So their R&D people did call me to arrange for a meeting.  I didn`t think much of such a meeting but went there anyway, what the heck!

Well, as expected, it was all about giving their R&D a free tutorial.  No deal.  They after that meeting even look for my type of engineer to develop similar product using Craigslist.  Putting 1 and 1 together I became sure they try to play hardball.  So I decided to compete against them by putting my product into the market by turning my patent-pending invention into product.  That will take some time and resource but I just hate such bad intention on their part and will try to give them a run for their money, keeping in mind their have no IP while I do, arguably the best!  Even my tech, an inventor himself, agrees with me.  He said my working unit will generate "fear of God" in them when I`d show it to them again, soon.

We`ll see what happens in a month or two...

A bit more background: my invention pertains to their core business, not mine, but I got the IPs, not them.  It would be very tough for them to compete technologically, but they count on their deeper pocket.  I don`t think they could compete on performance or price.


-------------------------

Go Green and put more money onto your bottom line with award-winning LED-based light bulbs PearlLED. If you manage a good sized store/business and want to boost the bottom line, call us!

having a patent is a good way to get them to deal with you.  without the patent, you will get burned early and often.

-------------------------

James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

Thank you for your words of wisdom.  I couldn`t agree with you more James.  Any other advise?  I have a company interested in meeting to discuss making prototypes. 

I would only discuss the matters disclosed in the issued patent in most cases.

-------------------------

James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

James:  The patent is pending.  Should I wait until it is actually approved before I go any further?  Advise.  Thank you.

I don`t know enough about your situation to give you specific direction.  the safest course is usually to wait - not sure if that is best for you.

-------------------------

James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

Does anyone know what number to call to contact the patent guy if you need to speak with them regarding the patent?

Are you referring to the examiner at the USPTO?  If so, from what I understand, if you signed a power of attorney, the examiner will not speak to you but only to your attorney-in-fact.  That is what I was told.  I`m not sure if that is accurate.  But if you filed your own patent application, maybe you can contact that department through their website.  Good luck.