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Ask Slashdot: What Is the Best Way To Approach Big Companies With Your Product?
New submitter ily2013 writes: My family have invented a product that will prevent electrical related fires for homes and businesses. A patent has been filed and approved worldwide, which includes the United States. Now I would like to take this product, and ask Apple/Microsoft/Big vendors to see if they would be willing to integrate our product into their existing and future products, because we believe the product will truly change the way safety of electric/electrical devices are viewed. What is the best way to approach this? Should I start by cold-calling Apple/Microsoft/Big vendors? or send them a mail/email?
and one of us will send it up the chain if it looks useful
Sig: I stole this sig.
You wait N years for them to independently come up with your same invention, achieve market penetration, and sustain profitability. Then you sue them for $700 trillion.
As the topic says: first get a lawyer.
Suppose some company does take an interest, they'll want to craft a contract that could potentially screw you.
If they decide to simply buy you out, you'll need one there too.
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
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Dude. We get it. You personally don't like Google. That is all well and good, but this isn't the place and time to drive the point home (We call that off topic here on Slashdot, as you know based on your SlashID Number.) Off you go now ...
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Make competing products using your patent. When you overtake Apple and Microsoft in marketshare, they'll investigate why this is happening. When they realize that they're uncompetitive because of all the electrical-fire-related expenses that they have and that you don't, they'll have no choice but to license your patent.
Just some observational evidence, but big companies do not seem to buy ideas or technologies. . . they do seem to buy customers, though. Of course, you probably are wanting to sell the idea so that you do not have to worry about the annoying customer part of product development. . . Interested to see what stories of such an elusive thing will pop up here. . .
However, if I were you, I would just go ahead and hit up kickstarter at this point. . .
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
I second this. There are a lot of ways to approach this, but reading some books on Negotiations is always helpful. But make sure you have a lawyer (one that you are paying, don't just get a friend who may not spend as much time on it since it's just a favor) to thoroughly look through any contracts.
Well, it's not *impossible*, but it is pretty unlikely. If you have a patent in the US, it protects only
against infringement in the US. And when you say "approved", that's slightly unusual terminology.
If the patent was granted by the USPTO, then please say that (or alternately, the patent was "issued.")
The original description makes it sound as if the invention isn't really a stand-alone thing, but something
which needs to be "incorporated" into other, existing products. Is that right? Hard to advise you without
knowing a little more. Please post patent (or application) number.
A patent has been filed and approved worldwide, which includes the United States
Post a link to the patent application or design docs since it is already protected under the patent approval process and I'll tell you why it's a really fucking dumb idea.
No one wants your shitty LUDDITE product. If you app it into an app, modern app appers will app it with other apps!
Apps!
Engineers tend to find devices to include in their designs via salesmen and distributors. If you have a product, partner up with a sales rep who sells things similar to your product. If he's any good he knows who to approach to get new ideas through, and can get you visibility.
The odds of you approaching a company like that any other way are not easy. You can call the front desk but you'll never find the right people. You want to find system and hardware engineers I imagine. But be prepared for a tough sell, these guys (and i know from personal experience) have tight deadlines and very directed tasks and aren't appreciative of disruption, particularly if you have product and it's not the right form factor or your supply chain isn't sorted out. A good sales rep knows how to make this happen and get their attention.
First off, there is no such thing as an international patent. You file a patent in one country, and then can file for a PCT which - if it's granted in the first country - means other PCT signatories will agree to "respect" the patent. But you really still need to file in those other countries to get true protection (I recommend filing in the US, Germany, Japan, and China - you'll cover the biggest markets in the world, ones counterfeiters will not ignore, and you will cover the source of most counterfeit goods - and China is very protective of their own filed IP).
Next, roll it yourself. Prove it's capable of actually making money. So you invented something - big deal. Unless you can make money with it, it's worthless. So start your own small business, show that there is a market for it. You don't have to sell tens of millions or make millions in revenue. Just a small stream will show it's commercially viable.
THEN pitch the idea of licensing or buying the company to bigger players. Target contract manufacturers, not direct end-customers. I've had a LOT better success getting factories to license my patents, then they reuse them with their bigger clients. Going straight to the end customer (Microsoft, Apple, Dell, etc) is very hard to do; getting their CM to accept it (the Foxconns, Flextronics, Fosters, and Quantas of the world) would be more receptive.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Protip don't forget to water the flowers they dry out and become inflammable.
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
You need to do several things, not just the "best" one.
They may include:
- renting a booth and presenting at a trade show
- advertising in trade journals
- establishing an online presence, so people can find you via Google, etc.
- contacting companies that specialize in marketing a product like this to other companies (for a cut)
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
Except you can get patents with minimally-functional claims, patents that are easy to design around & patents on something that requires buying or licensing other prior art patents.
IANAL, but you need a good one in both contracts w/SEC experience and patents for a 'real read.'
As someone else said, F500 companies buy customers.
Awww how cute. You think writing software is real engineering.
Fires from the products you mentioned are pretty rare compared to say space heaters, stoves, toaster ovens etc.
I worked for a "very large computer company" (retired). I interviewed and hired many engineers.
I know of zero situations where we bought a design from an individual and developed the product. We bought companies but not individual patents from a person.
You may want to try Kickstarter or something similar. Or, attend a trade show and demonstrate the product and attempt to get a venture capital firm interested in the product.
Don't worry, if they really like the idea they'll steal it and then sue you for infringing on their vaporware product.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Insurers are in fact a major, major source of funding for safety initiatives of various kinds, because reducing -their- customers' claims reduces their costs. You may have noticed your home insurance company sends you stuff about fire safety and burglary prevention on a regular basis. This month, they probably sent you something about Christmas trees, Christmas lights, and fires. If you haven't seen this because you don't yet have your own home and car, perhaps go upstairs and ask your mom if they insurance bill is around somewhere. In the envelope you'll see safety tips.
You've probably heard of Underwriters Laboratories, the #1 organization in the US for ensuring products meet safety standards. "Underwriters" in the name means insurance underwriters.
So how does this all work with profits? Suppose in 2014 you bill $350 million in premiums, spend $270 million paying claims, $40 million on marketing, $10 million on customer service and overhead. You end up with a net profit of $30 million. With me so far?
Now suppose your customer outreach, telling YOUR CUSTOMERS how to be safer, reduces their claims by 5%. A 10% reduction in claims is $13.5 million. You've just increased your profit from $30 million to $43.5 million. So a modest 5% reduction in claims from your customers increased your profit by 45%.
Companies generally like to increase their profit by 45%, so that's why insurance companies are in fact a primary driver of safety in the US.
Five steps will do you.
(1) Get a patent
(2) Find an adorable blond little girl or baby who was horribly burned and scarred (living is required, as that means they can appear on camera a lot), preferrably on one side, so you can pan around from the "isn't she cute" to the "OMG!" side at any photo op, on 20/20, on 60 Minutes, and so on
(3) Get the parents to sue the shit out of the company that made whatever product was the culprit in the fire for not including your safety device (doesn't matter if it wasn't invented at the time)
(4) Get it written into the regulations that your device is required
(5) Profit!
You either need to find an entrepreneur or be an entrepreneur. Seriously, the hard work is just getting started. You may have a technology, but you don't have a product, a market, a business model, or a customer. So start learning about how you build companies. There are plenty of online classes or books at the library. And forget about starting with big companies just because they are big, you need to find the companies that are hurting the most from the problem you are solving - electrical fires.