Patents are near impossible to enforce and are almost worthless to an individual.
It's simply the right to sue.

PS OP can you show us a link to any of your patents?

Here are my two for what they are worth
#4462053
#5289474

http://www.pat2pdf.org/

Enter the numbers in the box and download the resulting pdf
or
goto
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/4462053/fulltext.html
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5289474/fulltext.html
for the quick synopsis

These patents were done by competent patent firms and assigned to the employers I was working for at the time. As far as I can tell they were completely worthless to both assignees. I didn't even get a lousy plaque or even $1 bill as "good and valuable consideration"

 

I have my name as inventor on a Patent for Baxter health care. Big companies use em like trading cards. Individuals just go broke enforcing them.

 

Gadzooks guys, I only asked a simple question........

I'm not going to address individual replies, it's all here.

First; To The_RB; apology accepted. Truth be told I could not see what you meant by my "contradiction".

I am not a corporation. I do not possess the skills and equipment to build a prototype. Nor will I create a corporation to build and sell the generators once a patent is granted. I will divulge only a small aspect of why.... it is nuclear powered, but in a very unique way that has never been done before, not even experimentally, according to my knowledgeable sources in the nuclear power research community. They have all signed confidentiality agreements, and I'm sure Papabravo will have words for that as well.

Yeah, I hear your snickers, but I do have some experience in the field, just not in power conversion, hence my initial question. I know I only have to simply mention "convert power to utility requirements", but I need to understand how that would work to validate to me that the idea could work end to end.

Once my patent application has reached the "patent pending" stage it will be turned over to a major nuclear power utility or research lab to put life and $$$$ into it. I'll take a royalty on sales, plus a few bucks up front.

So as you can now see, no amateur will get hurt trying to copy or infringe my patent, unless he has nuclear materials and enjoys being nuked.

And for those that don't fully understand what constitutes a patent, the invention is not required to either exist in material form, nor even have the slightest chance of really working. It only has to be non-obvious and totally unique in its methodology. You can get a patent for a device built with Unobtainium.

As for my primary power output, I haven't the foggiest idea what voltage will be produced, but I suspect several kilovolts. I have no idea how much power can be produced at any scale, but I have several "sizes" in mind. As for how many phases it can produce and at what frequency, that will be a design decision, most likely 3 phase 50 or 60hz. The design is flexible with little modification for various combination's of output phase and frequency. If you want 5 phase 72hz theres a configuration for that. Higher frequencies are easier to do than lower frequencies, hence my initial question at 600hz. The generators will have to be located in secure sub-stations or generating plants, and require additional physical security as well.

And Papabravo, you got paid working for the assignees. Betchya it was more than a $. Some corps. do put the involved inventive employees on the patent list of assignees, most do not. Being on a corporate list opens a major can of worms should the corp. decide to sell the patent, or receive major revenue from it. Check into any Microsoft or IBM patent.

And finally, no I will not link you to my patents. I have my reasons and that's final.

Again, thanks all for the lively and informative discourse.

jgb

 

...
They have all signed confidentiality agreements, and I'm sure Papabravo will have words for that as well.

Confidentiality agreements are what they are: "confidentiality theater". They provide one or both sides the illusion of confidentiality without without actually inhibiting the proscribed behavior. They are difficult and expensive to enforce especially against an individual or a corporation with no assets.

...
Once my patent application has reached the "patent pending" stage it will be turned over to a major nuclear power utility or research lab to put life and $$$$ into it. I'll take a royalty on sales, plus a few bucks up front.
...

This is the part that WILL NEVER NEVER HAPPEN. I challenge any forum member to provide a documented case where this plan actually has worked. Lancaster talks about this plan in the case against patents, which I reference in an earlier post. They will treat you like a leper with the plague. They do not even want to talk to you, no matter how good your idea is if there is the slightest possibility it could expose them to litigation for stealing your idea after the discussions break down.

There are numerous examples of inventors who try to do what you are doing only to founder on the rocks of despair. Ideas are a "dime a bale" in ten bale lots. You simply cannot have a resonable chance of success with this approach. I implore you to reconsider this plan for your health, sanity, and economic well-being. If you will not reconsider then at least promise us to come back and tell us how it worked out -- good or bad.

I'm hoping things work out for the best, but I fear the worst.

 

Confidentiality agreements are what they are: "confidentiality theater". They provide one or both sides the illusion of confidentiality without without actually inhibiting the proscribed behavior. They are difficult and expensive to enforce especially against an individual or a corporation with no assets.

Truer words...

The outfit supposedly interested in sharing the patent and so on has gone out looking for a market different from mine. Having found it, I and my researcher got the mushroom treatment for 8 months while they did some additional development and market research.

Our "protection" is that USDA might sic DOJ on the company if they do a rip off, but only if the market is somehow "worthwhile".

So, if I suddenly start posting schematics for apparently recreational purposes, it will be only to deny the so-and-so's the ability to pursue some patent of their own. My docs go back 27 years.

 

In particular the courts have held that confidentiality agreements and non-compete agreements cannot be used to prevent an individual from making a living doing what they do.

 

Quote jbg "I am not a corporation. I do not possess the skills and equipment to build a prototype. Nor will I create a corporation to build and sell the generators once a patent is granted."

But he did stay at a Holiday Inn!




Quote Papabravo "There are numerous examples of inventors who try to do what you are doing only to founder on the rocks of despair. "

Get the book of Tesla's biography. See how he made out with Westinghouse!

 

Yeah, and he wound up giving Westinghouse a lot of licenses to get back at Edison (another so and so).

Now and then you hear where someone wins these law suites. It resembles the lottery in many ways, but is much harder work.

 

Are there no forum members who know of a case where somebody was able to sell a "patentable" idea for up front cash and royalties without actually getting the patent? I'd be willing to make a modest wager on this one as an incentive.

 

If you had an actual working prototype that showed promise of commercial exploitation, you might cut a deal.

Better have your gang hold the boss' family hostage while you negotiate, though. If the company thinks it can make a working copy, that is just what it will do. The man who came up with the socket wrench with a releasing button for the sockets had to sue Sears for 15 or more years before he got a judgment in his favor. He might have recovered court costs.

 

They even made a movie about the guy, Robert Kearns, who invented the intermittent windshield wiper. What a tragic tale that was. All the automakers treated him like a leper with the plague.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kearns
and refernece 10. from the Wiki is also an interesting read
http://www.jmripl.com/Publications/Vol4/Issue1/ronspies.pdf

 

If jbg works for a company that has anything to do with power production or power generating he will probably have to assign the patent to the company anyway.

I worked for Delphi/Packard Electric and any of the engineers/designers that came up with anything remotely connected with car or any type of wiring connectors went to the company. Even if patented years after terminating employment.

If It has any connection at all with company products it belongs to the company.

 

I once refused to sign an unduly restrictive agreement that wanted the rights to anything I might produce, even on my own time and unrelated to the company's business. This was after a takeover, and I told the new VP what he could do to himself with a collapsible baton. The project I was working on was the reason for the acquisition so I had him over a barrel. It was an unstable temporary situation, and for my own well being I took steps to find suitable alternative employment.

I now work for a company that was so good at keeping secrets, that none of the remaining employees know the details of the family jewels. Reverse engineering is the only tool left after three acquisitions and two physical moves of the company location. Numerous computers, hard drives, servers, source files, and documents have simply vanished off the face of the Earth. Was this the result of neglect, inattention, or malice? Nobody knows for sure.