Monday 14 June 2010

The Chinese way of working has almost defeated one British entrepreneur, writes Malcolm Moore in Wuxi

This is a very funny story of a British entrepreneur determined to make his fortune by manufacturing high-end electric scooters in China and importing them to Britain.



Read this very amusing and colourful true story here about manufacturing in China , and you'll get a clear picture of how this advanced manufacturing nation operates!!

The moral of the story. Get your product manufactured and made by companies that care, and havea reputation to uphold... Preferably English speaking too. Making products in China is laughably prone to errors, and there are a whole host of companies that profess to help you to do this. Trust me, there are better ways!!

How to protect your invention for FREE

I get a lot of emails from inventors, and here is a recent example. Luckily this 15 year old inventor was switched on and asked me the right questions

Sent: 09 June 2010 18:30
To: john@thebigconsultant.com
Subject: Feedback Form

I am 15 years old and have an idea which I believe will dominate both the [removed for protection] and in [removed for protection] markets.

I would like to know three things however before I disclose details of my idea; 1/do you offer advise on the viability of designs, 2/ do i need my idea to be protected before I disclose details of it to yourselves and 3/ do you have the resources to produce on a large scale as well as prototyping.

I eagerly await your response.

Elliot Bell


My response:-

Hi Elliot,

Thank you got your interesting email.

You certainly have a job on your hands if your idea is as good as you have outlined. However, you have correctly identified three very important questions and in answering them I will stress to you that you should seek to carefully protect your idea, be wary of advice you are given and make your own decisions very carefully.

To answer your questions:-

1. do you offer advise on the viability of designs,

I can look at your design and give you my honest opinion, based upon manufacturing and sales knowledge. However, you should not disclose your design to any party until you have a printed and signed Non-Disclosure Agreement. This should be signed by both parties, and this will protect your idea. You should have your own, and I’ll provide you with details on how to obtain this.

2. do i need my idea to be protected before I disclose details of it to yourselves.

Yes yes yes. But be careful. There are low cost and simple ways to protect your design which your should consider first.

Your first step should be to contact the Intellectual Property Office, or IPO. This is a government organisation that manages legal protection of ideas and there are several methods by which you should protect your design – see this page for more info http://www.ipo.gov.uk/patent/info and call them if you need to.

Please be aware that

i. some companies thrive on taking peoples ideas away from them.

ii. some lawyers want you to spend lots of money on patents too early.

iii. You should research all this information yourself carefully, and double check the advice.

iv. Ideally you should develop a “working knowledge” of how to protect you design. This is in stages, 1. By NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), 2. By post 3. Most importantly by patent application if your idea is good, (and other methods, see IPO website) 4. By full Patent Publication.

You should be safe to speak to me or others, after completing Step 2.

Note:-

a. If you “publicly disclose” your idea, i.e. you show someone without the NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) you may not be able to file a Patent in this country!!

b. If you disclose your design without an NDA agreement, someone may steal your idea! Patents offer more protection, but will cost £3,500 generally. Fortunately you can use other low cost ways to protect your design, for much less, for up to 12 months or more. This includes Registered Design Rights, Patent Applied For, and Trademarks. I would suggest that the best method right now is to make a copy of all your work or ideas, and post them by registered self addressed envelopes at your local Post Office to yourself. This gives a date, and leave them sealed!! This can then be used as evidence of your having the idea first. I have personally sign and sealed copies of my ideas and given them to professional people I trust, such as my accountant or family solicitor to keep in their safe.

c. You should read the information on the IPO Website, and especially the downloadable documents regarding “Patent Facts” and “Patents Essential Reading”. You should also be able to order a printed copy from them for free. I recommend that you have a NDA Agreement, that you and the receiving party sign and date. I can send you one of mine, or your could contact your local patent lawyers and ask them for one for free (if they are any good, and reasonable they should give you one). Also why not also ask for a free 1 hour consultation, if they are registered to give “Legal Aid”. Also, I recommend that you have posted your design to yourself, and I should say that you are protected enough to discuss your idea with a 3rd party.

3. do you have the resources to produce on a large scale as well as prototyping.

I work with a range of companies to deliver services, and there are a range of options available to you in order to undertake production. All have risks, levels of commitment and potential for varying financial reward. Typically the least risky will yield the lowest reward, and this would be to licence your developed and protected (step 4) product idea to a 3rd party manufacturer. The second way would be to set up a Ltd company, to own the IP and to create ‘shares’ in this to cover the costs of development (as the cost of setting up a company is large), however, this company itself may have value and could provide a vehicle for greater profits and flexibility, but requires investment of work and careful management. Third would be to sell the protected and developed idea outright for a on-off sum, which would leave you within the money, as they say, but you would effectively have sold the intellectual property. In addition there are variations on these themes, including stepping up royalties in case of higher sales numbers.

Manufacturing typically takes place in a global market now, and as you may have seen in the news, Apple’s Ipod is not made by Apple Inc, but by a Chinese company called Foxcon. They also manufacture the Playstation! I can arrange for large scale manufacture as well as prototyping, but this involves more of a legal process, and your product must show the capacity to generate a “return on investment” i.e. it will be profitable to sell, and suitable in terms of investment of time, money and production of tooling. The simple answer is yes.

Please be careful of who you talk to regarding the idea, before you have made steps to protect yourself. Your design would not be worth anything, if for example, any company could just copy it. Also check your sources of information, and remember that even friendly looking organisations may be wishing to make a profit from you.

I do however recommend this book on the subject, and it really is the best that I have seen and covers all the details of patent laws, registering, designing, legal documents, marketing, and dealing with businesses http://www.abettermousetrap.co.uk/book.htm . I do strongly suggest you purchase this, and it will even tell you how to mark your drawings so that they are copyrighted for example (another free protection).

If you do have any other questions, then please feel free to ask. And if you want me to appraise your idea, then I should look forward to seeing that you have taken the steps outlined (NDA, copies posted to self, drawings marked copyright etc).

I wish you the best of success in the meantime, and well done for asking the right questions.

Best regards,
John Biddleston
MDes BSc LCG QTS


So the moral is, 1. Get an NDA which you can do for FREE is is invaluable 2. Seek to file Patent Applied for (you can write this yourself, and filing is FREE 3. Review IP such as copyright, trademarks and posting to yourself (which admittedly will cost you a stamp!!)