patent design on a workbench

[damunk]

Hello, I guess there is no chance to patent 'design' a self build work bench?

All it would take is for someone else to make it 10cm different in size in either direction to claim "it is not the same"?



It is basically a steel table but you join it together like the Angle iron ones you find on ebay but I would like to make them with box section.

Perhaps put some caster wheels on bottom as an option.

Just don't want the exact same thing but like I mentioned if someone just made the legs 10cm longer , then that is all it takes for someone to say 'it is not the exact same'

Thanks lads.

 

[badabec]

Don't bother. Even registering the design is pointless.
If your's is a good idea, Temu will be selling them for a fiver. They will laugh in the face of your patent.

 

[Seadog]

All it would take is for someone else to make it 10cm different in size in either direction to claim "it is not the same"?

It has nothing to do with the size. It's all about the principle behind the design that makes it unlike anything that has gone before.

 

[BrokenBiker]

A patent doesn't rely on dimension...you patent the idea/design/specific features that your item has, compared to items that do a similar job but don't have the same features or design criteria...

 

[wyn]

You would need to have enough money to take it to court to defend a patent.

 

[cheb]

'Inventive step' is a phrase I was told about years ago. There's also 'prior art'. A mate's dad was a patent agent.

That's for the UK, in the USA it seems you apply for a patent, are granted one and then spend your time and money on lawyers. The Apple vs Samsung rounded corner debate: A device for sharing information with rounded corners? That'll be a Victorian era school slate then.

 

[BrokenBiker]

You would need to have enough money to take it to court to defend a patent.

And even if you could defend it well, the Chinese wouldnt care...

 

[Kram]

World would be a better place without patents. We owe a lot to China!

 

[BrokenBiker]

World would be a better place without patents. We owe a lot to China!

Would be a cheaper place for sure.

 

[Gragson]

World would be a better place without patents. We owe a lot to China!

Agree to a point, especially pharma where there should a a fairer world wide system.
Thing is, R&D can cost a lot, and how do you recoup that, else the commercial incentive for advancement is lost.

 

[bricol]

As a small guy you are gong to struggle to defend a patent.

As someone working for a larger company with many patents that keep a lot of people employed in the UK, both us and our country wide supply chain, the idea that not having patents is a good idea and to let China, or indeed anyone, do what they like is hysterical!

 

[fizzy]

World would be a better place without patents. We owe a lot to China!

And then nobody would put vast amounts of money into R+D - stagnation would result.

 

[Ross365]

Myself and two friends got as far as filing a provision patent but we never completed it. You need so much money.
Even when I worked at the large electronics company "Plessey", they were very reluctant to take out patents.

 

[Screwdriver]

Hello, I guess there is no chance to patent 'design' a self build work bench?

Dude, it's a table. You're several thousand years too late for a patent.

If on the other hand you've come up with a really interesting way to connect box section, I bet my bottom dollar you'll find that on FireBall Tools website somewhere. Probably be easier to reinvent the wheel.

 

[damunk]

sorry i have been watching a movie called "somewhere in time" whilst i was constructing the post. Got lost in the time travel i suppose. Hope you all have a nice day.

 

[hotponyshoes]

It's a lot of time and money to get one and even more to defend it.
Plus, once you have got one it's easy for anyone else to have a look at it and see exactly what is so clever about the idea.
That shows them how to copy it or, how to do something the same but different enough to avoid breaching it.

About the only reason I would suggest a one-man would go to the trouble of getting one is to sell the rights to the idea to a bigger entity.

Apart form that, I would put all that time and money into building and promoting the brand.
No use having the exclusive rights to an idea if you don't have any customers to sell it too.
Or the facilitys to produce the product fast enough to get it to customers.
If you can't keep up with the demand people will either start making there own versions or, one of the big guys will see this unfulfilled demand and out-produce you.

 

[Screwdriver]

sorry i have been watching a movie called "somewhere in time" whilst i was constructing the post. Got lost in the time travel i suppose. Hope you all have a nice day.

All is not lost. If you have a good idea, get out there and make it. If it turns out to be a good idea then you will be successful, you will make some money and if someone steals the idea, you'll be way ahead of them. If it becomes a amazingly successful, most serious manufacturers would make a deal with you anyway, just to avoid copyright issues. Copyright is the thing you want to secure if indeed it is original...

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Do you plan on mass producing or just "cottage industry" amounts ?

 

[m_c]

@damunk the fact you've just shared your idea in public, already means anybody who sees your post could claim the idea was already in the public domain before you applied for the patent.

 

[Seadog]

But if it's in the public domain, and clearly attributal to you, you at least have intellectual rights, for what it's worth