Infectious Off-Road.com

Ever get the feeling that something you've created and shared was copied and mass produced by a company that can move it to the market?

I've made a few one-off parts a couple of which I was very proud of and shared with others only to later see the same design 2-3 months later produced by a company that never offered the product previously.

I may be crazy but I dunno... It just seems odd that the same company would sell two products that are so close to what I created its uncanny.

somewhat glad I haven't shared all my ideas I still have an "early retirement project" I have to refine and rebuild again.

double bubble.

[quote="Lake_v2"]Ever get the feeling that something you've created and shared was copied and mass produced by a company that can move it to the market?

I've made a few one-off parts a couple of which I was very proud of and shared with others only to later see the same design 2-3 months later produced by a company that never offered the product previously.

I may be crazy but I dunno... It just seems odd that the same company would sell two products that are so close to what I created its uncanny.

somewhat glad I haven't shared all my ideas I still have an "early retirement project" I have to refine and rebuild again.[/quote]

That sucks.

I guess, if you have something you think is good enough to market, patent the idea to protect it. I know it is expensive, but if the idea is sound, you could easily sell the patent to someone that wants to make the product or even better.... license the idea to them and collect a royalty.

Get a patent using legalzoom.com

I have done it and it is much easier and way cheaper than using a law firm or trying to sort through the process yourself. Without a patent, your shit is fair-game for the copycats, or just a dude that happened to come up with the same idea. All of the major parts companies copy someone else's design - all of them.

This shit happens all of the time, and most of these companies are scantless about it. Dozens of members on JKOwners have been ripped off (no one made JK parts when they first came out, so folks made their own and were quickly copied). A company rep was eyeballing the Rotopax mount I made for my tailgate, and now his company is about to release the same thing. All or these companies, good and bad, are vultures who scavenge their products from others. If you are serious about making money off of your ideas, get a patent.

A design patent is only good for 14 years, so you have to get your idea going or sell the patent rights to someone else in that time frame. It takes some serious motivation, capital, time, and sales skills. Thats why most inventors are poor. You can get investors, but most of them will want a percentage of rights to the patent or the ability to take the patent if you fail to actively produce or market the product. Most manufacturers don't license products like this anymore, they would rather own the patent or tweak it a little and copy it.

They'll just copy it anyway. You couldn't afford the cost to sue them to protect your patent, and there probably wouldn't be enough money from any potential royalties for it to make sense to absorb the cost of a law suit. Plus, there is always the defense that the idea isn't unique enough that anyone would have thought of it in the same situation. Bottom line, unless there is a ton of money/product involved no one cares, either way. Plus, no one would even know you had a patent until you discovered the product being sold and informed them that you had a patent.

You just have the satisfaction that you came up with it first.

Of course, someone else that you don't know about could have actually done it before you.