So I have an idea for a mod

[bombastinator]

so I have this vision of a mod I would like to own. The problem I have is that once before I had an idea like this which I sent to joytech and asked in return merely that if they built the device they would send me one. I more or less outlined the specifics of the ERoll. About 8 months later the design came out but I heard and received nothing at all. Now it is possible that it was merely coincidence, but considering the specifics of the device it’s kind of one hell of one.

So now I have another device I’d like to see made. It’s even more niche than the eroll but I think it could have a following.

I am sadly aware that ideas are common, and without action are near worthless. Is there a way to if not monetize this at least to receive a bit of recognition?
Again sadly I suspect the answer is no, but I’m feeling frustrated and bored so I thought I’d throw this out there.

Any thoughts?

 

[Zaryk]

Unless you get some sort of contract or legal document drawn up and signed by you and the company you present it to, there is little that can be done since you are only going off of the word of the person you are talking to. If you present it to a company for review, you would also want to get some sort of document drawn up that would hold them liable if they steal the design, but if they copy it and change a few minor details, that document could be worthless. It is a tough job to approach a company with ideas and both parties walk away happy.

 

[bombastinator]

Unless you get some sort of contract or legal document drawn up and signed by you and the company you present it to, there is little that can be done since you are only going off of the word of the person you are talking to. If you present it to a company for review, you would also want to get some sort of document drawn up that would hold them liable if they steal the design, but if they copy it and change a few minor details, that document could be worthless. It is a tough job to approach a company with ideas and both parties walk away happy.

Yeah. It is a 3d printable design and really fairly simple construction wise. Is there perhaps a public license system for the 3d printed stuff? I wouldn’t get anything for it but at least somebody could make one. The hard part is the chip programming though a mechanical 5v version could be produced easily enough. I’d never be able to do the programming. It’s one of my deficit areas.

 

[Zaryk]

Yeah. It is a 3d printable design and really fairly simple construction wise. Is there perhaps a public license system for the 3d printed stuff? I wouldn’t get anything for it but at least somebody could make one. The hard part is the chip programming though a mechanical 5v version could be produced easily enough. I’d never be able to do the programming. It’s one of my deficit areas.

You can post it to shapeways, I believe they give you a part of the profits if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Chick Bowdrie]

I'm not an expert but easy way to get something out of it might be to confront Joytech and let them know you have another idea. Maybe your eroll idea is in their database somewhere. Doubtful they'll fess up but maybe they'd be interested in contracting your next idea. Hire a lawyer to draw up a contract with your wish to receive recognition in the form of kudos on the e-cigarette-forum then give them your idea.

 

[entropy1049]

Patent law is a quagmire for the uninitiated. If you’re serious, lawyer up.

 

[puffon]

Patent law is a quagmire for the uninitiated. If you’re serious, lawyer up.

Especially if it involves China....

 

[entropy1049]

Especially if it involves China....

Honestly, it seems to me that if a Chinese manufacturer gloms your intellectual property there appears to be very little recourse, in spite of bank vault legal protection in the US.

I know of a couple mech manufacturers in the US who are engaged in trying to navigate the Chinese legal system pursuing copywrite infringement suits and they seem to be spinning their wheels.

 

[untar]

Lawyers for westerners are useless in China, I've yet to hear of an intellectual property case won by a non-Chinese person/company...

 

[stols001]

Is your idea interesting enough to perhaps consider a partnership with a non China based vendor?

I know absolutely nothing about patent law honestly other than it just sucks. You might have the opportunity to work with someone who is sort of mod-capable (if you can set up some sort of partnership with said person and or some of the smaller home grown vape emporiums and see if you can get a prototype done then decide what to do. I guess I'd consider said person you select to be in some type of contractual partnership with you, etc.

Anna

 

[untar]

Nobody is going to sign a contract just based on an idea with no prototype (at least a tactile one, doesn't have to be fully functional) or at least a solid background on product design and a portfolio of successful products (alternatively a big social media presence to guarantee free advertisement).
Not going to happen. Even then there's no guarantee. They all have their own R&D department costing them thousands of bucks each month and likely have 20-30 products in the "maybe" line at all times.

Like Anna suggests, teaming up with some electronics muscle (probably even from the forum) and producing yourself, maybe with the aid of kickstarter or the like (after you have a functional prototype), would be the best way to realize your mod.
Could be hard to manufacture in the US as you'd need to do the dirty-dance-no-pants with the FDA... but nowadays it isn't that hard to manufacture somewhere else.

 

[papergoblin]

Lawyers for westerners are useless in China, I've yet to hear of an intellectual property case won by a non-Chinese person/company...

Yeah didn't China get away with cloning a BMW?

 

[Uncle Willie]

Yeah. It is a 3d printable design and really fairly simple construction wise. Is there perhaps a public license system for the 3d printed stuff? I wouldn’t get anything for it but at least somebody could make one. The hard part is the chip programming though a mechanical 5v version could be produced easily enough. I’d never be able to do the programming. It’s one of my deficit areas.

There are any number of Freelance programmers out there both for chip as well as 3-D plans .. it's called the "Gig Economy" ..

Toptal - Hire Freelance Talent from the Top 3%

There are a number of sites ..

 

[papergoblin]

Yeah. It is a 3d printable design and really fairly simple construction wise. Is there perhaps a public license system for the 3d printed stuff? I wouldn’t get anything for it but at least somebody could make one. The hard part is the chip programming though a mechanical 5v version could be produced easily enough. I’d never be able to do the programming. It’s one of my deficit areas.

If you really believe they took your idea or it was just coincidence, you have one option. Buy a 3-d printer and start building. Chips aren't a big deal, decide on what has the options you want and use pre-made boards, like Yihi or DNA.

If anything build a prototype and bring it to a company, through an attorney.

 

[orior]

so I have this vision of a mod I would like to own. The problem I have is that once before I had an idea like this which I sent to joytech and asked in return merely that if they built the device they would send me one. I more or less outlined the specifics of the ERoll. About 8 months later the design came out but I heard and received nothing at all. Now it is possible that it was merely coincidence, but considering the specifics of the device it’s kind of one hell of one.

So now I have another device I’d like to see made. It’s even more niche than the eroll but I think it could have a following.

I am sadly aware that ideas are common, and without action are near worthless. Is there a way to if not monetize this at least to receive a bit of recognition?
Again sadly I suspect the answer is no, but I’m feeling frustrated and bored so I thought I’d throw this out there.

Any thoughts?

So, you are the designer of the eroll?
I guess I should thank you for that. The eroll is my main out-and-about ecig for years.
I'm one of the few very angry customers who are mad about Joyetech for discontinuing it without offering a proper replacement.
I've gathered 30 batteries and 3 eroll mega PCCs for a few years from now, but afterwards I'm busted.

I don't really know about patents and legal stuff, but I really hope you can bring something similar to the eroll to the market, it surely needs it. best wishes!

 

[DaveP]

When you compete with the big boys you have to have a keen legal staff to fight off the "We had it first" crowd and their legal staff.

I remember the article about the guy from Florida who developed a system that enabled cars to get 100mpg. Once it was publicized it was squashed, probably by oil companies, and no one heard anything more about it.

 

[stols001]

I remember the article about the guy from Florida who developed a system that enabled cars to get 100mpg. Once it was publicized it was squashed, probably by oil companies, and no one heard anything more about it.

I heard about that guy too. I would not have cared to be him, frankly, and I also wonder if he is still allowed to be alive, the government for sure doesn't want guys like THAT around, thinking up crazy stuff and like, bringing it to fruition.

Anna

 

[bombastinator]

When you compete with the big boys you have to have a keen legal staff to fight off the "We had it first" crowd and their legal staff.

I remember the article about the guy from Florida who developed a system that enabled cars to get 100mpg. Once it was publicized it was squashed, probably by oil companies, and no one heard anything more about it.

That was probably because it was crap though. You can’t violate the laws of thermodynamics with impunity

 

[untar]

There's all kinds of "inventions" that "solve all the energy problems of humanity" and claim to be held back by big oil and da gubbernment (alternatively by evil scientists). Haven't seen a single one that isn't a scam to get money from clueless investors and sell books/DVDs to dunces.

 

[stols001]

IDK it depends which conspiracy theorist you believe.

My fave was the whole nuclear fission/fusion I forget that was gonna produce the biproduct of water, that got SO much media hype and it was SO disappointing. I can't remember if it turned out to be error, or deliberate in the end.

Things I have heard: Gentleman with the ability to turn salt water into energy somehow via combustion, leaving the biproduct of fresh water, was said to be suppressed because what if some ..... caught the oceans on fire?

I think that one had to be the weekly world news, but I do enjoy musing on it from time to time. Talk about climate change! (Yet another tale, told to us by a government, and yet somehow, the seas aren't flooding out CA, although the fires seem to be bad there this year.)

The Paris accord was truly about like, money and decreasing US military power if you talk to the right people.

I am not the "right people" on this one, I just don't care quite enough, I can only worry about so much at once.

All the stuff I took for serious in my youth: AIDS will wipe out the human race, pig flu, bird flu, etc. etc. Just go read "a brief history of nearly everything" by Bill Bryson and you will be spared worry, for the rest of your life, about "what could happen." ANYTHING BAD and you will marvel that human life exists at all.

I do know vaping helps me not smoke and improves my health and I am sticking to it REGARDLESS of all else.

Anna