As far as I know patents cannot just be applied to anything and some things cannot be patented (something about the well being or well good of the society). Acquiring a patent for something means that you have designed the thing from your own ideas. That is a very HEAVY statement. Alot of end consumer products use patented technologies but the consumer product itself is not patented by the person who created it. Holding a patent to something is like having gold in your pocket. A patent application on can take about 2 years because it has to be researched and prooved that no other person has patented the idea you have. o_O --- On Thu, 4/23/09, Caddillac 1 <caddillac1@gmail.com> wrote: From: Caddillac 1 <caddillac1@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] Little Advice Guys To: "Skunkworks forum" <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke> Date: Thursday, April 23, 2009, 10:52 AM Hi guys, I have spoken to the company itself and they tell me the do not give exclusive rights. But for starters they can protect me from competition for a period of time by me telling them my targeted client(s) So my understanding of this is that they will have these clients/competition get the product from me. I like Steve and Ken's idea of patenting the product or the non-disclosure agreement. Though i dont know how effective patenting is i like the idea though i need more info on that since i dont know to what extent i will be covered. Ken's Non disclosure Agreement sounds also great,was just reading on Wikipedia and it says  "where one party wants to disclose certain information to another party but needs the information to remain secret for some reason, perhaps due to secrecy requirements required to satisfy patent laws[2] or to make sure that the other party does not take and use the disclosed information without compensating the discloser." But the tricky part is as he says if they refuse to sign it. On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 9:39 AM, wesley kiriinya <kiriinya2000@yahoo.com> wrote: If you truly believe in the idea, talk to a lawyer about drafting a Non-Disclosure agreement which the Telcos and anyone willing to partner with u will sign before presenting the idea to them. The agreement simply makes things clear that the Telco or partner is not working on  a similar idea, and that they will not disclose it to anyone. If none is willing to sign then keep your idea and be ready to walk away with nothing.   A. Does the product need customization before selling it in the Kenyan market?   If yes. Do you have the skill to customize? Are u allowed to own the customizations?   If no, unless the creator is in agreement with you, don't hold your breath. B. Whether you launch it yourself or sell it to the Telcos is up to what u can handle. If the Telcos offer is better than u launching and maintaing the product then ...   All in all be confident with what you have and make sure you can deliver it. Don't over-hype yourself with something you cannot archieve. But if you can archieve it then you know its value (or at least research on its value) then that will be it's price tag.   These kind of stuff u learn from life's experiences so if it doesn't work out, learn from it and move on. Atleast you will get a taste of what it means to successfully sell an idea or create ideas, start a company based on your idea and steer the company toward making profits from the idea. All these are never taught in school, but are in the heart of business. (Ever wonder why some of those kids from 'rich' families don't do well in school but end up running big companies? Their parents invested in teaching them the above.)   Teach a child how to be innovative, make wealth from his/her innovations and manage that wealth, s/he can hire someone who can read and write: In other words, the age of knowing how to read and write being the pillars of society have passed, the new age requires smart people who understand how wealth is created from innovative ideas and how that wealth is managed (it's assumed anyone can read and write-This means getting degrees, ...). It's a long topic and it might be out of topic. I hope this puts you in a better position to understand how to solve your problem, so if u r successful and a Telco offers u some 'big' money, you can take a step back and think critically.   O_O   --- On Wed, 4/22/09, Caddillac 1 <caddillac1@gmail.com> wrote: From: Caddillac 1 <caddillac1@gmail.com> Subject: [Skunkworks] Little Advice Guys To: skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 5:02 PM Hi Guys, I need some little advice al appreciate any info i can get on this. I have a product i have come across for the mobile telephone industry that Safaricom,Zain n other providers we have, have not yet introduced into the market inspite of it being used by major carriers around the world. This product i believe will have a great impact on mobile users. Now i also feel like its just a matter of time before they come across it (if they havent done so already). It is a product that can be worth some millions since every provider will want to use it. Now i need any advice you guys can offer in regards to how i can introduce the product here before the big guys (Safcom and the rest) do so. Meaning also selling it to them before they go to the main company itself. I dont have the financial might to launch it on my own. This is why i need any advice i can get on what options i can look at if it means partnering with someone or sell the idea to someone etc, That kind of stuff. You can contact me onlist or offlist. Any help will be highly appreciated. Thanks guys. Regards, Mwangi -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Skunkworks announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Skunkworks announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Skunkworks announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general