Holding back a discovery...

[Neuro]

Suppose the following:

One has rummaged through a list of theories that are known to be slightly off basis from the truth. In this process of rummaging, this supposed one has discovered the precise flaw that exists in these knowingly broken theories and through years of research has identified the correct way of explaining certain phenomena with empirical evidence to support it.

 

So then...?

One is not obligated by any law to present this discovery to the scientific community. With intent to generate personal capital gains that would validate the action of bringing such forward, one is skeptical about the ability to do such when we live in a capitalist society of people who are waiting at the edge of their seat to internationally patent and copyright everyone elses ideas before they even get the chance.

 

I am not morally obligated to share anything with anyone. No one is going to threaten me with criminal charges for not sharing what is in my head. What then is the incentive of doing so? Who could one trade information with for money?

 

I am not in any rush to get my name printed somewhere becuase I am pretty confident that it will be a while before another set of minds figures it out. I am not going to risk anything by simply rushing to get the information out there only to find out I could have set myself up to be living comfortably a year later.

 

Can the marxism...

I don't care if people here do not believe in intellectual property and such. Microsoft would not write code for free just as I would not make the world a better place without incentive. People who want to improve the earth without getting anything out of it can do such by their own free will, if they want me or anyone else to improve anything -- they need to provide a way of it bettering my personal life before I decide to do so.

 

So, hypothetically, what would you suggest for someone in this situation?

What is the most secure way to go about owning the legal rights in a capitalist society to a scientific discovery? What is the best way of making money off of it? If it is impossible to do all of the above, what is the incentive, (excluding anything related to god, making the world a better palce, or feeling good with myself) if any, to release information to the scientific community?

 

Do not ask questions pertaining to what, how, and if.

[CraigD]

So, hypothetically, what would you suggest for someone in this situation?

I would contact an intellectual property lawyer.

[Buffy]

Do not ask questions pertaining to what, how, and if.

What, how and if actually don't matter very much! :)

 

What you need:

• Money: A good reason to just sit on the idea is that you really have to realize that no matter how good your idea is, most of the money to be made off of it will go to the people who fund it. What really makes a difference (see Bill Gates) is if you can trick people into giving you the money for it or for something else before they realize what they've given away. More about this in a minute.
  
• A business plan: Cool ideas are a dime a dozen. What you'll often see from some of the coolest ideas in history (e.g. the Airplane), is that they were brought out and patented long before there was any reasonable way to make much money off of them, so the inventors got practically nothing. Even if your timing is right, competitors can work to delay the market until your patents lapse. So to start you need a realistica and implementable business plan of how you're going to exploit your idea and make money off of it.
  
• A good Intellectual Property attorney: Protecting a good idea is complicated. There are lots of ways to protect it and the "ways" are appropriate for different situations. No one can give you that advice without knowing what it is in some detail *especially* including business plans. Do not go to "Inventor's Helper" companies as they're just there to rip you off. You will need to do some investigating to find legitimate attorneys, and they will cost an arm and a leg (hundreds of dollars per hour billable with retainer up front). That's the first thing you need big money for.
  
• Investors: Loans, VC money, parents, whatever. Take the number in your business plan for the first year and double that and that's what you need to get out of the gate.
  
• People: You can't do it all yourself. You're going to need people to do all those things in your business plan, and you need to either know them personally (best) or know someone with a rolodex who can get them.
  
• Knowledge: You need to know everything not only about what your idea is about, but who wants it, who else might be in a position to provide it or a substitute, what constraints there are from outside sources. If you don't know it cold, you'll be surprised by something and that usually spells disaster.
  
• Luck: Yep, everything could be perfect and Murphy's Law will still step in to blow it all up. Timing is the most important aspect of this, and its the thing you have the least control over once the ball is running.
  

Rule of thumb: the sum of all those bullets represents about 99% of the return on your idea. If you only have the idea, likely you'll only make 1% of what it makes in its lifetime (if you're lucky). The more of these bullets you can do yourself, the richer you will get.

 

Doesn't seem fair, but that's the way the world works.

 

I think you're very smart to sit on your idea and not tell anyone until you've got your ducks in a row.

 

Capitalism is good,

Buffy

[Buffy]

This is definitely not a Strange Claim Neuro, so I moved it to Social Sciences, which is the closest bucket we have for such stuff. We've had some discussions on Business and Economics here, so its appropriate.

 

Good luck,

Buffy

[Neuro]

Apologies for I figured I would be met with hostility from people demanding I announce my claims so that it would be subject to their critique. I decided to post it in the strange claims forum so that I would not be subject to bickering requests that I state a claim.

 

Every community is unique. Some are more ridiculous than others. As a formality, thank you for the replies.

[Boerseun]

It's important to keep in mind that Scientific Discoveries per se can't be patented. What can be patented, however, is applications of it.

 

Also, developing, marketing, selling etc. of any kind of product in today's world needs thousands of people, all of whom contribute their effort into getting the product to market. Long gone are the days when a single individual with a bright idea can turn the world upside down with a new invention, all by himself.

 

In other words, trying to develop the idea by yourself won't get you very far. You have to spill the beans (sell the beans, rather) to some sort of corporation with the industrial know-how and marketing savvy to bring your product to market. That is, if you actually want to bring your invention to fruition. If not, you're perfectly allowed to sit on it and not tell anybody about it. But chances of you actually getting it out without corporate help is slim, indeed. There are exceptions, however, it all depends on your invention/design/gadget.

 

1) Get a good patent lawyer. The best he'll get you based on plans and blueprints is a one year provisional patent. You'll have one year to come up with a working prototype, failing which, your patent rights will lapse, and it'll be a free-for-all.

2) Get a big firm with lotsa dough (who are into the same kinda manufacturing as what you have in mind - for instance, if you've invented a calculator, see someone with manufacturing capabilities that can cater for microchips) to back you, with all the non-disclosure contracts in place. They will only do this if you give them a humunguous slice of the pie. This may sound contradictory, but it is fair - after all, they have invested billions in getting their manufacturing capability to where it is today. You haven't spent a cent on it.

3) Watch the clock! If your year has lapsed without a working prototype, tough!

 

But if you wanna sit on it, that's your prerogative.

[Tormod]

I'd recommend working with a university or other institution that has some knowledge of the area out of which your invention has grown. Get them to sign NDAs if necessary, or better yet, impress them so much that they let someone do a Doctoral thesis on it. Nothing is better for your future wealth than scientific documentation that your idea actually has a sound basis.

 

If you're too afraid that your idea will be stolen, then think about what will happen if you never disclose it. The world won't care, but you will lose any potential gains from it.

 

So find a partner who would be able to commercialize your idea. That should be a prime goal - but it will require sound scientific backup for your idea.

[Tormod]

BTW, if all you have is a theory, then you need to do the hard work: Use the scientific method, make predictions and create repeatable experiments, get someone to do them for you, and publish the results. If you don't, you will probably find it much harder for the scientific community to accept your ideas because you'll be choosing the crackpot route (ie, copyrighting ideas).

 

I do find it amusing that you - who are so opposed to Apple's so-called monopoly - are so concerned about sharing a finding (a breakthrough, no less) with the rest of the world.

[CraigD]

Having worked essentially my entire life for a series of schools and not-for-profit companies,my experience in the subject of making a lot of money with an idea is scarce and second hand at best. However, I think some of the posts in this thread, such as

Also, developing, marketing, selling etc. of any kind of product in today's world needs thousands of people, all of whom contribute their effort into getting the product to market. Long gone are the days when a single individual with a bright idea can turn the world upside down with a new invention, all by himself.

, though accurate, paint an overly pessimistic picture.

 

The single personal experience I’ve had with a rags-to-riches science & technology came from the coincidence of the startup company of Jeong Kim, Yurie Systems, leasing offices 1 block from mine, leading me to bump into several of its people over the next couple of years at our local lunch places. After 5 years of quietly recruiting young engineers from among DC and Baltimore area university graduates, working on very cool telecom technology, carefully filing patents, courting private funding – at, according to my acquaintances, sickeningly low salaries but promises of excellent future stock offerings, the company went public, shot up in value, made Kim and nearly all of its employees million-to-multimillionaires, was bought out by Lucent, and disappeared.

 

They were well-educated, smart, and careful, but not huge nor, to begin with, wealthy, yet brought significant technology to market, making amazing personal fortunes in the process. Though not a one-person endevour, Yurie was a small, personal one, in which nobody was cheated or stabbed in the back. Though I suspect Lucent ultimately made more money from the technology than its inventors, having made millions to hundreds of millions, I doubt they feel any bitterness.