I have been studying drones/multirotors for almost a year now. I have come to the point where I have workable designs that are practical, relitively simple, yet unlike most anything I can find out there.
However I am not yet in a position to do serious fabrication.
I see posts here where people need ideas and answers, and where my designs solve such problems, and I want to help; but if I give away my designs, then I may be cutting myself out of being the first to make them and being able to sell them, and/or even getting true and lasting credit for them.
I thus have a real dilemma....
I would appreciate some practical advice about my dilemma.
Thank you.
Replies
Not harsh or critical, in my opinion! Mind if I drop you a PM? Would like to hear more about your R&D builds!
What drone issues or weaknesses do you design (s) solve? Without revealing your design(s) we could at least tell you if they are really addressing things nobody solved yet...
Andrew in the first reply is correct, IMO.
Lots of people here, myself included, have been convinced we had 'groundbreaking' ideas, only to discover in the real world, it was the ground that did the breaking. (sorry, couldn't resist).
If you haven't built them or flown them, you don't know what you think you know (with due respect). In fact, to reject that advice out of hand just confirms its applicability.
Also, if you truly have something revolutionary, someone else is right behind you (or ahead). Virtually guaranteed. (Some painful personal experience there).
If you keep it secret, you'll be scooped soon. Patent laws, for example, no longer protect the 'first to think of it', but only the 'first to file' (a patent application). Meaning you could actually find yourself in a situation where you could demonstrate, convincingly, it was your idea and still be legally barred from making, using, or selling it.
Patent laws don't generally allow patenting of anything that's been publicly revealed (apparently, even careless cocktail party conversation has invalidated at least one patent application). The U.S. and Canada are rare (only?) exceptions, and even then, only if the public revelation was made by the inventor, and then only if the inventor files an application within 12 months.
This means, if you're panicking about being beaten to the punch, it's sometimes advised to 'go public' immediately with the concept. You then have 12 months to file a patent application, and no one else, anywhere, can beat you (assuming a valid patent application eventually).
There's also a Provisional Application for a Patent (USPTO) - a simplified, cheaper application to mark your place (a 'time-stamp' basically). Still, only valid if you follow up within 12 months with a full, correct patent application. And even provisional applications still have to meet some strict standards,
There's no way to hold onto ownership of a concept without 'making your move', and fairly quickly, unfortunately.
Good luck (as long as it's not one of my ideas!)
George
Thanks for contributing your expertise here, George - are you a patent attorney, or did you learn all this from experience?
Not a patent attorney, Martin, no.
It comes from experience. The ins and outs of patenting strategies are a pet topic of mine.
Certainly, the standard disclaimer applies - 'consult a professional in important legal matters'.
In practice, though, for a lot of us, professional patent advice is out of reach when it's needed most - in the earliest days. For many, I think, it's DIY or not at all.
George
If your primary goal is to keep your ideas secret, perhaps a forum dedicated to open source flight code is not a good fit.
Kinda hard to get anyone to test your ideas for you if you don't tell them what brainstorm is blowing apart your skull.
I completely feel your pain... I'm sorta in the same boat. I think I have some good design ideas that others might find useful but also might be stolen or implemented before I do. It kinda sucks cause that means that I'm working in secret all the time because I don't want some one to steal my ideas. I think the key to avoiding this plagiarism is to have some ideas that aren't the typical easily made type of designs. I guess if my process is more complex, or at least my understanding/implementation is, then that would put me a head some. At least with composites, the process is fairly long and detailed and the chemicals/materials are usually expensive and a bit more out of reach. I think this is why most of the frames are just flat cnc sheets?
I think where I stand now is that I'm going to build my stuff and sorta hide it until I'm ready to put them out there. Though it would be much nicer to have some collaborative communications with other builders. That's why I've joined this forum. Though now you have me curious about what your working on and what ideas you have...
I wonder if there's a way of creating some kind of group for potential new designs where people could share and get feedback without fear of IP theft. I think the main obstacle is figuring out who would be allowed in and how you'd be able to vet their credentials to minimize risk.
Any thoughts/ideas?
I know in LA there was an inventors group that would have regular meetings. Everyone in the group was an inventor and thus understood the importance of protecting IP. To be in the group everyone had to sign an NDA. I think that would be helpful and easy to do though, obviously, an NDA isn't an end all protection. THough I guess even if you have a patent you're even at risk.
Still it would be nice to have such a group that could be helpful. I personally would like to be a part of a development team and work on some projects jointly. It would be most helpful to have a group with some various specialties so that a true team could be formed that would ultimately make everyone's ideas and skills more useful.
I just want to check: Have you already built a multirotor? If not I really recommend starting off small (no bigger than 450) and building a conventional one based on any of the many build blogs.
There are many surprising real world factors that affect performance, and it is important to develop an appreciation of these before embarking on something more adventurous. Frame construction, weight distribution and vibration damping are critical to get right. Even knowing which suppliers to use and the peculiarities of international shipping is important. Quality control is variable.
Lastly I wouldn't worry about credit. I don't think many people care about who invented what. Being able to reap the rewards of one's efforts though is valid. Unless you have the time, energy and money to invest in patents, lawyers and a large infrastructure to deter corporate bullys, assume that any good ideas will be copied and improved upon by others.
So I'd start small with a conventional design, iterate on that until you have something that flies great, fold the fruits of that process into your current designs, then begin prototyping from there.
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