Need help finding a company that can refabricate metal.

[vincefitzgerald]

well, we needed these wheels for our robot.
and i just want recongnition and my name on it.

[Leav]

I can see where you are coming from.

After such long hours of work you must be proud of what you did, and if someone else uses it, it is only fair that they recognize the designer.

I suggest that you publish the design under the Creative Commons license.

You can make sure no one can profit from it, they have to recognize you when using it and you can control whether they are allowed to modify it or not.

Start here: http://creativecommons.org/license/

-Leav

p.s.
A patent is a bad idea in my opinion. Unless you made a breakthrough innovation and you are afraid someone is going to steal your idea.
The CC license is ideal for your situation in my opinion.

[Tristan Lall]

I was going to post about the legal and practical issues—but then Don and Jason covered them. So instead, I recommend that you follow their advice.

One thing, though: patent reciprocity exists through treaties. So with the proper paperwork, a patent granted in one country can be recognized elsewhere, retroactive to the date that the first patent was granted.

Originally Posted by Leav

I suggest that you publish the design under the Creative Commons license.

You can make sure no one can profit from it, they have to recognize you when using it and you can control whether they are allowed to modify it or not.

The CC licence covers creative representations of the design, such as the illustrations, drawings or the description. But it doesn't limit anyone's ability to read the design and produce parts using it, or sell those parts. (Basically, it's useless for protecting engineering information.)

A patent is what you're looking for, but it's unlikely to be practical to try to get one, in this situation.

[Leav]

Tristan, are you sure?
what you say sounds perfectly reasonable... but if he chooses a non-commercial license for a technical drawing and they use that drawing to create something....

Oh I see. the drawing itself is protected but not the concept that the drawing depicts!

but they used that drawing in a commercial way! the omni-wheel may be considered to be a derivative work of the initial drawing! (?)

this license may apply: (human readable format!) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/

tricky!!

-Leav

p.s. I hate when things get all lawyered up.

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Leav

but they used that drawing in a commercial way! the omni-wheel may be considered to be a derivative work of the initial drawing! (?)

In the sense of a CC licence, "derivative work" means taking a CC-protected creative work and using parts of it in some other creative work—like using a CC-protected photo in a collage.

It doesn't apply to interpreting the information, and building something based upon it—like using a photograph of a bird as the basis for your own statue. (There are some cases where this isn't quite true, like when you're copying artistic details, but that's highly subjective, and has to be decided in court.)

[vincefitzgerald]

i need this so i can pay for college
im hoping to get into college

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by vincefitzgerald

i need this so i can pay for college
im hoping to get into college

It can cost up to $10,000 to get a patent when you factor in patent lawyer fees and other related costs.

And if you are looking to use this to get into college, just use this invention when you apply for all kinds of scholarships, especially any of the ones for science/technology available through FIRST.

I won a $4k one-time scholarship for innovation and creativity when I wrote the essay about how I went about designing and programming my Vex holonomic drive robot (which at the time was one of the first holonomic drive Vex robots). And a lot of my work with robotics was most likely a contributing factor in other scholarships I've won.

It's a lot "safer" of an investment to spend hours and hours filling out all those scholarship essays that it would be to patent an omni-wheel design. Especially if the patent doesn't work out, such as if it is too much like existing patented or public domain designs. (Not that I'm discouraging you from patenting it if you believe you are on to something).

[dtengineering]

Originally Posted by vincefitzgerald

i need this so i can pay for college
im hoping to get into college

Remember that patents don't make money... they cost money.

It is the business based on that patent, or the licensing revenue generated by that patent that makes money.

If you don't have a business plan, or have a manufacturer wanting to license and market your product, then you don't have a revenue stream.

University researchers are placed in a similar situation when they make a discovery... if there is a business case then they can pursue profit through patenting... but if there is not a solid business case for their discovery/invention then they publish their design, share it with the community, and receive recognition for their contribution to advancing the state of the art.

I think you got some very, very good advice above when it was suggested that you use this as part of the basis for scholarship applications.... unless you can reasonably foresee sales of your design generating revenue in the tens of thousands of dollars, a patent is likely to cost you more than it will earn you.

Jason

[vincefitzgerald]

i will take that into account thanks

[vincefitzgerald]

Andy Mark is interesed in buying my design
i am really considering selling it
should i ???????

[Billfred]

Having dealt with Andy and Mark for several seasons, I can tell you that they are definitely Good People.

That said, I still advise you to read the terms of the offer carefully, consult the appropriate professionals if need be, and judge for yourself.

[Chris Fultz]

Your last post beat me to it

I was going to suggest that you try to seel / license your idea to someone who already makes robot parts for FIRST - they would know from experience what will work.

And,as a side note, the US patent process is not only expensive but it is also a slow process - mainly to be sure what you are patenting is really new and novel. My last patent, which was managed by corporate patent attorneys, took well over 12 months from application to actual patent.

[vincefitzgerald]

i know they are good people
thats why i went to them
thanks though