Hello
i have an idea for a existing product. It is a attachment to any power rack home gym.This attachment would take an existing workout machine and replace it .
Im seeking info on how I would go about to persent this idea to company’s without them ripping me off would i have to pantent it then sell my rights or ??? any info would be appreciated thank you
I’ve sent a message to an administrator asking to move this to the In My Humble Opinion subforum, since there isn’t a single objective answer to your question (which is the focus of this subforum).
Most companies do not buy unsolicited ideas from outside submitters. You could ask them to sign a confidentiality agreement that protects your idea, but no company is going to agree to that, because they may already have a similar idea in development.
Besides, ideas have no value. You have to develop them and make a prototype to demonstrate feasibility. Even then, getting a manufacturer to look at it is not going to be easy.
Since the OP is looking for advice, let’s move this to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Is this something that you can make and sell as an after-market add-on to existing gym equipment? If so, you don’t need to work with the manufacturers. You would have to market this on your own, though, and that’s not easy.
You could charge people to collect extra apostrophes. I’m sure there’s tons of them.
A preliminary consultation with a patent lawyer would probably be very helpful to you.
I don’t want to burst your bubble, but it sounds like all you have is an idea. That’s not much. Ideas are a dime a dozen.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but you don’t have a prototype. Just going by your post, it sounds like you don’t have the technical engineering skills required to make the prototype. You don’t have market studies showing that your device fills a need and will sell. You don’t have the finances to make this yourself. You don’t have the manufacturing capability of making this yourself. You don’t have a marketing plan, or resources to do this marketing. All you have is the idea. So basically you’ve got step 1, and you think that’s where the money is. It isn’t. There’s a huge number of steps in between your idea and a final product sitting on the shelves (or sold on TV), and everyone who has to do those steps is going to want their cut. The guys who provide the money to fund all of this are going to want the lion’s share of the profits. Your idea is just a tiny slice of the pie.
You mention patents. Patents work well for big corporations (well, sometimes). They don’t work so well for individuals, and this complaint is why a lot of folks say we need to overhaul the patent system. Patents cost a lot of money, and there are no “patent police”. If someone violates your patent, absolutely nothing happens. No one reports it. No one enforces it. It’s all up to you, the patent holder, to not only notice that your patent has been infringed upon, but then to take the necessary action to enforce your patent, which usually involves hiring a lawyer and taking legal action against the person or company infringing on your patent. Sometimes all it takes is a letter from a lawyer and you can stop the infringement. Other times, you end up with a long, drawn-out legal battle. A large corporation often has lawyers on staff, and since they are paying for these lawyers anyway it doesn’t cost them any extra money to have these lawyers throw every legal trick in the book at you. A large company with deep pockets can basically lawyer you to death. Can you afford a few hundred thousand dollars in legal fees? They can.
Which isn’t to say that patents are a waste of time, effort, and money. Sometimes David does beat Goliath, legally speaking. I’m just warning you that patents can be a very expensive path to take, and you need to have a good understanding of what you are getting yourself into.
thanks for the info …