In The Jeans

My inventions demand attention!

Question: I want to sell my patented ideas to companies that manufacture similar products. But since I don't have a lot of disposable income or collateral, how do I finance my patent searches and applications? Also, when I write to companies about my ideas, I get rejection letters or no response at all. How can I get them interested in my ideas?

Robert D. Brown, Randleman, North Carolina

Answer: Patent attorney David Pressman, author of Patent It Yourself (Nolo Press), recommends waiting before sending letters to manufacturers until you've completed a thorough patent search and submitted your patent application. It costs around $300 to hire someone to conduct a patent search, but you can do your own search by following the recommendations in Pressman's book.

You can begin your search on the Internet at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html and gain helpful tips in books like Patent Searching Made Easy (Nolo Press) by David Hitchcock. Although the information on the Internet only dates back to 1976, you can search data prior to that time by visiting a Patent and Trademark Depository Library near you.

Expect to incur some expenses, however, because once you've completed your search, each patent application fee costs up to $400. After you file an application, Pressman recommends writing to suitable companies. He reports most will respond with a form letter asking you to sign an enclosed waiver form. The interest in proceeding will depend on finding a match between your idea and a company's current objectives. Although some inventors do offer to sell their patented idea for a lump sum, most seek to license their idea, typically for about 5 per-cent of sales.

A word of caution: Avoid invention-development companies, which offer to review your idea and then charge an inflated price to complete a search for you.

For additional information on obtaining a patent, contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Washington, DC 20231, (800) PTO-9199, http://www.uspto.gov.

If you have a question regarding a start-up business issue, contact Paul and Sarah Edwards at http://www.paulandsarah.com or send it to "What's Your Problem?" in care of Entrepreneur.

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This article was originally published in the October 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: In The Jeans.