New Product Question

[Heyspike]

Hello All,
With the Maverick being brand new there were a lot of people designing products for them with 3D printers and such. How does one go about protecting your invention. I have something I need 3D printed and would like to sell them if there's a market. I believe there would be.
What have you guys done in the past?

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[b25crew]

No way that I know of other than NOT posting the plans on the internet - once you do.....

 

[gjallen3]

Hello All,
With the Maverick being brand new there were a lot of people designing products for them with 3D printers and such. How does one go about protecting your invention. I have something I need 3D printed and would like to sell them if there's a market. I believe there would be.
What have you guys done in the past?

I thought the major idea behind Ford endorsing the 3D printing designs and incorporating them into the truck was for the designers to share their ideas with the community as many members of this forum have done.

 

[MavStangVa]

Hire a patent attorney and DO NOT PRODUCE A SINGLE EXAMPLE until you receive Patent Pending status. Then go on Shark Tank, ask for 100k for 1% of your company. They will explain that it is a niche market and not invest-able. After that launch a website and sell 12 of them at a loss of 250k after all the attorney fees.
Good luck with your invention.

 

[Heyspike]

I thought the major idea behind Ford endorsing the 3D printing designs and incorporating them into the truck was for the designers to share their ideas with the community as many members of this forum have done.

I purchased a few things people have invented for this truck, don't see why I can't produce something/

 

[AutobahnSHO]

The patent and copyright processes are a ton of work.
You may start with selling stuff and build a rep but someone is going to steal it eventually.

 

[Cherokee]

Contact the patent department.

 

[Quest]

Been down this road, its very expensive to get a patent & someone can make the same thing with a minor change & not violate the patent.
Even if they did copy your design, in court most of the time the one with the deepest pockets wins.
Not trying to discourage you but the patent system is broken & thats the real world reality
The best way is to manufacture lots of them & sell them fast & cheap to flood the market before it gets knocked off.
A good example of this is the Roomba by I-robot, sold a ton of the robot vacuum cleaners & are now bankrupt due to knockoffs

 

[HeyBales]

You'd have to patent it in all the systems around the world (or at least the ones that matter) - and even then the ability to stop a knock-off is about impossible.

Ask all the manufacturers that used China factories and had patents there to protect them and high quality standards - and the plans/dies/whatever made it's way from one side of the factory specific to a business, to the other side used for all the strange names you see on Amazon. Eh, maybe a factory across the street...

So your idea needs to have a really large difference in quality of materials/strength/longevity/ect, or some extras that makes it worth the likely extra bucks to sell it, or made it the US for the subset of buyers where that matters over a few bucks.

 

[Sticks]

Without deep pockets for legal counsel, you have virtually no defense.

The upside is that you also have virtually no tooling costs. If you would dedicate the time to make the product for yourself anyway, then your risk is as low as it gets.

If I were in your situation, I would not post anything about the product until I have thoroughly tested it and have appropriate stock of the final product ready to ship. I would make an intentional product launch, and deliver on the hype immediately. List the product on a professional site (eBay & Etsy are a great start). Thoroughly review FTC regulations before making any marketing claims (if you print it in the US using filament from outside the US, you can't say "made in USA", but you might be able to say "manufactured in USA" or "made in USA of global materials"). Anticipate the demand and know what to do when you can't meet it. If it takes 12hrs to produce a single print, build substantial stock ahead of time. Worst case, you're out a few bucks in material. Building a serious brand and fostering goodwill within the Maverick community should help retain some sales when the product inevitably gets copied by someone else. Quality products, hospitable service, and word-of-mouth support can go a long way.

But if you want to promote the product on the forum, make sure you review the group rules and contact the administrator first.

 

[MaverickDragon]

Are planning on selling the print file so people can print the product at home?

If so, you might have a better shot for selling it cheap, so that there isn't an incentive for people to go through the work of developing their own version.

As far as a patent, cost / benefit is unlikely for something that can be printed at home.

You may want to start out with a search for a similar product, as you may have come up with something that is already out there.

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