Edited Date/Time
7/6/2026 5:40pm
Advice is highly appreciated. Entrepreneurship is something I’ve never done. Been thinking allot about a potential business to launch and I have possible investor in mind who would align exactly with this type of business. Looking to secure my idea and protect my interests before I introduce this idea to anyone else. I have nothing but an idea that includes a name and rough sketch of a logo but that’s it so far. I believe it has the potential be a very successful concept though if given the right opportunity. Thank you for any helpful replies
At the very least, do a poor man's copyright. That is document your idea, print it out and certified mail it to yourself. That gives you a date stamp. Then of course if you have cash available, talk to an intellectual property attorney.
You can trademark the name and logo, that is relatively cheap for the US...
https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks
but becomes expensive if you want to trademark it in multiple countries.
The sad news is you will need deep pockets, for lawyers to defend the trademark.
I dunno, you’re being pretty vague about what your business actually is and on top of that you have no sales so for that reason I’m out.
Love it...
Im out..
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tell me what it is and i'll show you how to protect it 😏
I’m in let’s do it.
The VitalMX version of “Shark Tabk” haha. Love it. I like the first mention of a poor man’s copyright. That’s easy enough for starters. And btw my business concept is in residential and commercial maintenance. I’m an electrician by trade but I like to think about different ventures and this is one I think could really do well in my area (just outside NYC)
I want to hear it!
good luck with filing with USPTO and bring a lot of cash and a year to do it. You can open a LLC to protect your self.
A patent is only good in doing if you are selling a $1,000,000.00 of it in a year.
I have had ideas before and wondered "If I google it to see if a product like this exists, will someone scoop it from me if it doesn't" Just like you're probably wondering if I say what it is on Vital, who sees it, and if they have the money and know how to take my idea and run with it before I figure out what to do, how can I prove it was my idea" ? I was skeptical of those "Send us your idea" websites too. Good luck whatever it is.
I had an idea awhile back and got some help and insight from Billy @ Luxon. I went so far as to start buying parts and trying to make a prototype when I figured out I don't have the cheese or time to pull this off. If anyone's interested, I'll spill my idea. If you want to run with it have at it lol.
You said you have an investor, that's probably step # 1 from my short lived inventor experience
I'm all ears.
I looked into the send us your idea and they want to produce the idea and sell it and only giving you a small %. Since I was already making the parts and selling them they wouldn't work with me.
I have a business partner in my 2nd suspension business and all I will say is do it yourself without a business partner or investor so 100% of the profits are yours.
Truck rims that have a spot in the center where you can hook your foot and use as a step. I’m a short little fucker, and reaching in the bed of my tundra is challenging at best. One day I got a flat and when I put the spare on, I left the little center hubcap out, that’s when I discovered I could hook my foot where that cap used to go and reach reaching into the truck was a lot easier. Anyway, that’s how I came up with the idea. A rim that has a part in the center that you can stand on to get that extra eight or 10 inches to reach into the truck. I figured it could be incorporated into the design so it wasn’t real obvious, like you wouldn’t even know until you went to go reach up and put your surfboard on the rack or get something out of the bed the truck, etc.. Have it at it !
Interesting first post.
Things have changed. In the Motodrive days, if a newbie showed up and posts this as his first post, his ass would have been burning all the way to the exit.
We don't do newbie hazing anymore. Got a bit rough sometimes.
I like it! Everytime I think of something, it takes about 10 minutes of searching online to find it exists. Someday I'll figure it out.
Some guy we call sumdood told us about this many years ago LOL I think your protections ran out.
TM
Question 1: Why do you think your idea is protectable? If it's a service based product, I'm not sure you can stop someone else from offering the same service. If it's a product, that's a different ball game.
You can protect your name which is highly important. People don't realize how important a business name is. Your name should be something that is a unique word or phrase. And if it's just one word it should be some kind of conjunction that you made up. Why? Because if it's something that does not come up in conversation, once you've established a market presence, your name will be the first to come up on google. That is the gold standard! If you google "Switch Hauler" it's the number one hit on google not page 36. Of course people need to know your name somehow to know what to google. That is the work of building a business.
TM
Before you approach investors, I'd highly recommend consulting with your local SBA office about developing a solid business plan for your idea (or at least have AI help get you there). Company structure, state and county requirements, market analysis, SWOT analysis, financial projections, etc. are all things that you need to consider. Once that's ready, have a non-disclosure agreement and make sure everyone signs it before sharing any details.
Pit Row
Minimize your expenses in all steps. So forget the trademarks, company name, etc. The first thing you need to sort out is whether your idea is 1) unique and 2) good (worth pursuing). There's no sense spending time and money on anything else till both those points are established.
1) Google it. Just type it in and see what comes up. Be somewhat vague, but close enough to get the point across and see if it already exists. If it pops up and already exists, or a close variant of it exists, then not much point in pushing forward.
a) It's not on Google? Great. Do the same thing in a Google patent search. Search for the same or similar concepts. What is unique on your idea, and is that patented already? If so, you're hosed. If not, then you have reason to push forward.
2) Is the idea good? Ask close family and friends you trust for their opinion. Keep in mind, those people will often want to encourage you and tell you it's good regardless. But if they tell you it sucks, then that's something to listen to.
3) If you made it past 1 and 2, and things seem promising, then push forward. Get an NDA sorted out (easy enough these days as they're all over the internet) and make people sign that before you tell them anything about it. Then get opinions from experts in the field, or someone who is qualified to evaluate it and isn't afraid to tell you it sucks, to see what they think of it. If they're impressed, then you might have something.
1-3 will eliminate most ideas people have for a product. But if you've made it that far with positive results, then (carefully) start investing time and money into everything to push forward. Ideas are easy. Execution is difficult and expensive; and it can go sideways quickly, anywhere along the line. This whole process is expensive, so bring your wallet (or convince someone else to bring theirs).
Ever been or know somebody who was stung by a bee through a straw in thier drink ?
I thought up a straw extruded with a wall every 120 degrees...
I look it up to see if its been patented...
Hell Yeah but under " Keeping a lemon seed from coming up the straw "...
For that reason I was self / OUT !
"So forget the trademarks, company name, etc."
I know a patent and trademark professor at USD that might disagree with you on that one. Depending on who your customer base is going to be and how you expect to get clients/customers probably would determine the importance of that though.
TM
Makes you wonder how many people get a patent on an idea but then never can do anything with it.
TM
Also search on USPTO to see if there is already a patent it.
Haha i got to where i needed a prototype to have something besides “an idea” I went and got a steel rim, started researching steel pipe to make a ring to weld on. Talked to buddy with a tire store about it. He said he didn’t think his tire machine would work with my plan, and said he couldn’t mount a tire on a rim that had been welded on for liability reasons anyway. So that meant welding a piece of steel pipe on a rim with the tire on. There’s no way we’d get it balanced or “perfectly centered” so it didn’t vibrate, not that it would matter for a “prototype” Then it became apparent that this wasn’t going to be a few hundred dollar project and I lost interest. I have a steel rim for a 2000 Tundra if anyone wants one for an extra spare, or make a bbq stand or something out of it lol. I still think it’s a good idea. Next time you’re loading a bike in a truck would having an extra 10-12 inches of height help ? The idea was it wouldn’t be obvious either it would look like a regular after market rim, except for a lip to stand on.
We’ve had worse ideas, like colored tires and Morey Doyle cars that don’t get door dings 😜
I don't mean forget about it entirely, I mean forget about it until you sort out whether or not you have a viable product. No sense spending time and money on a great company name, trademarks, patents, etc., if you don't have a viable product to have a company in the first place...
Also remember that a 10% variance can break a patent. I know someone who's job was to do that so a tool company could knock it off
Agreed check off the boxes first before making the plunge
100% agree. How long did you work 23.9hrs per day before felt you created a viable company?
TM
20 years and counting! 🤣
Got a few of these around.
Quite handy actually.
🙂
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