Chigger wrote:

Have you looked into whether it's patentable? That could give
you protection from the competition.
Even if it's not there is the Design Copyright, while not ironclad,
which can slow them down.
Art


Patents have their place, but the time and cost of getting
one is just not worth it for something like this. For small
companies like ourselves, the idea is to hit the street hard
and fast and get as much exposure as possible, while working
on the next project. Our biggest dream right now is to get
OCC to put one on a bike, while mentioning our name on the
air. No doubt then, who was first, and that 3-4 seconds of
air time would be worth thousands in advertising. They do
sell other peoples components and we have been in contact
with them.

A patent btw, only gives us the right to sue an infringer. I
have better places to spend my money than on attorney fees
for something of this scale!


I have another idea that is worth patenting. Initial market
research showed a good potential of capturing 60% of the
global market, US market alone worth over 6 million per
year. I can't afford to patent it, let alone try and produce
it. Any serious production effort would require hundreds of
thousands of dollars in facilities, injection molding,
automated handling and packaging. Very high volume, low
profit. It's worth using a good patent attorney, and seeking
funding, but can't afford the first step, so I just sit on
it and hope like many other ideas over the years, someone
doesn't beat me to the punch.

If the motorcycle parts business does well, we will look
into funding the patent and seek investors in a few years.
My partner knows what it is and likes it and the potential.

Time will tell!

Jon