a) The research really isn’t the big work. When you actually turn it in, it’s minimally checked by the patent office as well. That’s why often, you’ll see lawsuits where both sides have patents with slightly different claims. The big work is in defining the patent, and more specifically the claims of the patent.
b) I’ve never heard of turning in a prototype to the patent department, but then I’m in software where we don’t have physical entities as part of our work, so maybe there’s something special I’m unaware of. (although I doubt it)
c) There’s a thing called a provisional patent, where you make some broad claims, then fill in the blanks later (within a year if I recall correctly). But you still have to define some of the basic elements of the patent, and you also file any kind of documents you may have as evidence of your efforts.
It’s for a filtration system I have yet to make work on any real scale.
Works like a motha on a small flow rate though. I abandoned it years ago. If it was worth anything someone with a bigger budget would have cut my legs out from under me.
I do have friends with active patents. They have large company sponsers. I swear one of my buds spends more time in court (or his lawyers do) than he does working.
It is important to reconize that even if you own the rights to a device, hands down, no fukin mistake. Someone in Taiwan is going to knock you off.
I accept being w rong about no grippy filters but I seriously doubt if any single person made enough to run away from his wife. At best I bet a company person got a bonus for it and that is doubtful. This isn’t the kind of thing to make anyone rich very quickly.
Is it possible he concocted a story as an excuse for his depression caused by something else?
A few points: Don’t know who your employer is Chairman Pow, but they may have rights to your invention. I worked for several companies which had me sign a doc stating that any marketable idea popping into my head while in their employ was theirs, even if in an unrelated industry.
If your invention is related to your employer, and they don’t want to outright steal it, you might consider giving them royalty-free usage rights in exchange for them fronting the $ and lawyers to obtain the patent, and you’d still be free to sell your widget to others. My Dad worked that same deal with the power company where he was an engineer.
My buddy had a mechanical concept but needed an electronic control circuit. I devised a working prototype. We invited a select group of friends to join in the creation of an S (small) Corporation, each putting in $$ for stock. The $ was spent on obtaining the first of the 3 patents he and I co-hold. Cost for paperwork, including drawings, was ~$5K, IIRC. We continue to market, manufacture, and install our widget, using minimal outside labor.