Thread: New Minion rip off web gun

Tweet

I just saw a new hot glue web gun in stores for the first time. Did Minion really invent the hot glue web gun? He says that he did, I didn't know for sure. If he did that really sucks that these companies are ripping his ideas off. I would super pissed. It also patent pending like they are trying to get a patent on an idea that they stole off of someones website. Patents are sooo expensive. It is hard to protect our selves from companies from stealing our ideas and making a boat load of money off of something else that they stold. The only thing I know to do is mail your self 2 or 3 certified letters with all of your plans pics, ect and don't open them. That proves the date but don't know that could stop a company from stealing your idea and patenting your idea.

Well, I'm thinking that if you have a truly original invention, you better have it patented before posting the details on a public internet forum. Otherwise, you're just giving it away...

An internally piped air driven webber.....yep, the patent has been pending for a loooong time, I am hoping it finishes right after the halloween season. So does my Intellectual Property Attorney.
I also have previous art dating back to '99, I have bases covered.

He is champing at the bit to go after the violator.

Yeah, I am not happy, wasnt thrilled with people I know selling them, and even more so, was extremely pissed they tried to send people to my booth to learn how to use a webber - since they didnt know sh!t about what they supposedly invented and were selling at transworld.

Not sure about current patent law. I know that is how Bell almost lost his rights to the telephone patent was that someone else had filed for a patent before him. He was able to prove in court though that he had diagrams, and so forth dated long before the other person. He was rewarded the rights to the telephone in court because of it. That might be different now days though.

I found out a weird thing about music though. If you let a song you wrote be published in a song book before having it copyrighted it becomes public domain. Enya released a version of an old Shaker hymn a few years ago that the author allowed to be published in a song hymnal without ever having it copyrighted. In doing so the Shaker woman lost all of her rights to the song.

I hope it all comes out your way Gorey.

I don't remember the name of the company that was selling them but it was professional company. The package was sealed and looked like something you could buy at walmart. If you want I could go take a picture of it and send it to you. This was not an individual selling them this was a company like gemmy (it wasn't gemmy but you know what I mean). It said patent pending like THEY were trying to get the patent.

So what is the deal exactly, are they allowed to sell them until you get a patent and then they have to stop or can you sue them for every penny they made on the item once you get the patent?

I read somewhere that patent pending is only that your claiming origin & is only good for a limited time & is more of a ploy to keep others from making & selling it,so unless its actually a patent it's all up for grabs...
of course if your patent goes thru,you have to prove you had the design 1st & then go after other seller / manufacturer.Unless they can prove that they're design has other changes even with the similarities...... just a fine line best left to laywers.......hey they do serve a purpose !

The problem with Patents is that you may have a specificdesign, but all someone has to do is change ONE measily little thing, and the glory is all theres.

Example one:
Previous compnay has a patnened dersign on a PVC cap for fluid flow for their product. It was three ribbs evenly spaced in the bottom. One day we had gotten ahold of a competitors product, and looked down inside and say they also had three ribs in their cap. The boss/owner saw it as a patent violation can consulted the company attourney. Tuens out they had one rib 1 degree off. This was THEIR patented design, and therefore broke no rules.

Example 2:
My friends dad is some sort of electronics guru. He had come up with some sort of electronic contraption for the phone company that would help the phone industry as they knew it. He was going to be rich. HE patented it, and considers it the biggest mistake of his life. The phone companies keep an eye out for patents that may or may not help them. They saw his patenet, changed a couple of resistors and called it their own. They made the money, and he got nothing.

Well the thing is, I didnt patent the design. Designs can be changed, and 15% is enough to warrant another person/company just redesigning a gun.

The patent is far more inclusive than a simple design.

This particular invention is well represented by a very well established and respected patent attorney who certainly knows his business.

I am confident I will well protected until newtonian and non-newtonian physics are repealed.




And for teasers, working on 2 other web patents, a new glue formula, and a new fan webber formula.

How did the design get stolen?
Was it shared on the internet before a patent was obtained?
Just curious.

Yeah like a lot of us we build unique things and show others how to build them but also sell them to any buisness or person that doesn't want to make it or would just rather spend the money to buy it. The problem is that so many dishonest companies out will take someone elses idea and claim it is theirs. They have thousands of dollars that they have to put behind the product and get it to market. It sucks. I envented a new type of lighted motorcycle license plate but it costs so much money to get a patent and just to have it stolen by some big company, sucks....