Are you a crackpot inventor?

[ibe98765]

I'm currently working on developing some product ideas/inventions to hopefully patent and which will wind up making me filthy rich. In doing some research, I came across this humorous test. Well? How bonkers are you?

http://users.starpower.net/robertbell.mark...s/Crackpot.htmlAre You a CRACKPOT Inventor?A simple test to save us all a lot of time.          I get a lot of phone calls from inventors who want further information about the Patent Business.  Unfortunately, most of them do not take the time to read the materials on my website first (as I request they do) before calling.  As a result, I end up wasting a lot of valuable time answering the same questions over and over again.  This wasted time makes it hard to keep my fees low and my prices reasonable.          In addition, I inevitably get phone calls and letters from individuals who are crackpots.  I’m not pulling any punches here.  The invention business unfortunately attracts a lot of “unique†individuals.  While these people are interesting characters, I cannot take them on as clients.          Are you a crackpot inventor?  If you are not sure, take this simple test.  Answer the following questions and total up your score.  At the end is a scale of cracked pottery.          Note that EACH of the answers give below is based upon an actual conversation or letter I have received from a potential “clientâ€.  Welcome to my world…..QUESTION #1:Are you living in your Mother’s Basement? 0 = NO, I have my own apartment or house5= YES (Please note: Garages count, too!).5 = NO, I am presently incarcerated5 = NO, I am in a mental institution5 = NO, homeless.QUESTION #2 :The Government is suppressing information about Aliens in “Area 57â€0 = Be Serious1 = You never know, the universe is infinite after all.2 = Its probably likely, given all the sightings.3 = Well, the government has covered up so much else…4 = Yes, I’ve seen them5 = I’ve been probed.QUESTION #3 :The “100 MPG Carburetor†……0 = doesn’t exist.  Get real.  1 = was bought up by the oil companies.2 = was suppressed by the Government.3 = was bought up by the oil companies and suppressed by the Government.4 = was invented by Aliens in Area 57.5 = I’ve been probed.QUESTION #4 :Once you get a Patent….0 = you have a Patent.1 = you can sell it to industry and make millions2 = people will beat a path to your door3 = an invention broker will “market it to industry†for only $10,000 and make you millions4 = you will become a Captain of Industry5 = you’ll be richer than Bill Gates. QUESTION #5 :The CIA has planted computer chips in your head to monitor your thoughts0 = NO5 = YES5 = NO, they planted them in my head to steal my inventions5 = NO, it was another government agency, not the CIA.QUESTION #6 :To protect your invention rights, you have taken the following steps:0 =    You documented your invention and signed and dated the disclosure and had it witnessed by a 3rd party with the notation “reviewed and understood by meâ€.1 =    You filed a “Document Disclosure†with the U.S. Patent Office.2 =    You mail a copy of your invention disclosure to yourself.3 =    You refuse to tell your friends about your invention.4 =    You refuse to tell your Attorney about your invention.5 =    You refuse to tell the Patent Office about your invention.QUESTION #7 :Perpetual Motion….0 = violates the first and third laws of thermodynamics1 = could exist, you never know.2 = was suppressed by the oil companies3 = was suppressed by the Government4 = was invented by the Aliens in Area 575 = is the subject of my top-secret invention! (How did YOU know?).QUESTION #8 :Nikolai Tesla….0 = was a famous Electrical Engineer with some pretty far out ideas.1 = Nikolai WHO?2 = was suppressed by the government.3 = invented perpetual motion.4 = was suppressed by the oil companies.5 = was my real name in a “past lifeâ€.QUESTION #9 :Give yourself 5 points if you can answer “YES†to any of the following:I see angels.I see dead people.I am a reincarnation of (fill in the blank).I sense Auras.I belong to a religious cult, but you know, it’s not REALLY a cult…I have been abducted and/or probed by aliens. QUESTION #10 :How Gullible Are You?0 = I take everything with a gain of salt, even skeptics.1 = I always use my intuition and “gut†feeling to keep me out of trouble.2 = I always check with the Better Business Bureau.3 = If its advertised on television or sold by a big company, it must be legit, right?4 = MLM is a good way to make money.5 = Pyramid Schemes will work, if you just give them enough time. YOUR CRACKPOT SCORE:0-10  (SOMEWHAT NORMAL) - You are a largely rational person with reasonable expectations.10-20 (SCREWBALL) -  You have some annoying habits and are a bit naïve.20-30  (LOOSE CANNON) -  You will seriously annoy your Patent Attorney and the Patent Office.40-50  (CRACKPOT) -  Don’t bother to call me – I’m part of the conspiracy too!

[Corrine]

I'm currently working on developing some product ideas/inventions to hopefully patent and which will wind up making me filthy rich.

Just do a thorough novelty search first.I'll have to show that to the patent attorneys in the department. They may be corporate, but most of the inventors are crackpots!

[robertplattbell]

I'm currently working on developing some product ideas/inventions to hopefully patent and which will wind up making me filthy rich. In doing some research, I came across this humorous test. Well? How bonkers are you?

Hey, I'm glad you liked my little article, which appeared in an issue of Inventor's Digest a couple of years back. You might want like the following article as well... --Bob.Copyright on the Internet A PrimerHow simple acts can result in serious infringement A lot of us think we know about Copyright law. Or at least we think we do. As an IP Attorney, I always get a chuckle when I read an article in the newspaper where Copyright, Trademark, and Patent concepts are referred to interchangeably, incorrectly, or inappropriately. On the Internet, much Copyright folklore abounds. And like much folklore, most of it is Urban Legend – all wrong from the get-go. And Copyright law is no laughing matter, either. Acts of infringement can result in your being subject to both CRIMINAL and CIVIL penalties. In other words, they can throw you in jail AND take all your money. Fortunately, it is not difficult to understand Copyright law, and it is not difficult to avoid most infringement problems – provided you take a few simple precautions.1. What is Copyright? Copyright protects the EXPRESSION of an idea, not the underlying idea itself. Keep this simple definition in mind, as it is the key to understanding Copyright law. Thus, you can copyright a book, but the concept of the underlying story cannot be protected. An infringer would have to copy whole sections of text to infringe your copyright. All sorts of creative works can be Copyrights. Books, screenplays, plays, poems, short stories – any type of writing in fact, can be Copyrighted. But again, it is the explicit expression that is Copyrighted, not the underlying ideas. The only exception to this rule is short phrases and the like. There is no hard and fast rule here, but generally, a sentence or two cannot be considered to by Copyrightable. Obviously this may be a problem if your venue is Haiku poetry. But for most of us, this is not an issue. Photographs, films, painting, lithographs, and any type of VISUAL work can also be Copyrighted, and this includes sculptures and the like. Music, whether written or recorded (performance) can also be protected by Copyright. But again, only the expression can be copyrighted, not the idea. If you take a picture of the Empire State building, you have Copyright to that picture. You can’t, however, prevent others from taking pictures of the Empire State building. 2. How do I get Copyright? This part is AUTOMATIC. Copyright Automatically attaches to a work once reduced to a fixed an tangible medium. So everything you read is basically Copyrighted – automatically. There is no requirement to put a “notice†on the work to retain Copyright (Internet Myth #1) and posting your work on the Internet or giving it away for free does NOT mean you lose Copyright to it (Internet Myth #2). And by the way, making proper attribution for a Copyrighted work (Internet Myth #3) does NOT shield you from infringement. Yes, you can REGISTER your Copyright with the Library of Congress and obtain additional protection – but it is not necessary to have Copyright in a work. And Copyrights last a long time – decades in fact. Depending upon applicable laws, Copyright protection can last 75 years – or more. So, you should assume that all works you encounter on the Internet are Copyrighted and treat them accordingly. 3. What about “fair use?†The “fair Use†exception to the Copyright Law sets forth judicial standards, which may be used in court, once you are sued, as a defense to Copyright Infringement. They are a shield, not a sword. In order to determine absolutely whether something is “fair useâ€, you have to get sued and then have a Judge tell you. So it generally it is a good idea not to temp fate by relying upon “fair use†too much – especially as it often does not apply to the Internet. Fair use applies in situations such as where a teacher wants to copy an article for use in the classroom. Education uses are given a fairly wide berth, but don’t expect your posting of someone’s copyrighted material on your blog to be construed as “educationalâ€. One of the aspects of “fair use†is whether the use diminishes the commercial value of the work. By posting something on the Internet, you are making an INFINTE number of copies of it, rendering it pretty worthless. Why buy a book, when you can download it for free? Why buy a CD when you can download it for free? As technology improves, and it becomes possible to download movies, this issue will become even more critical.4. Internet postings are a special case As noted above, when you post something on the Internet, you are in effect, making an infinite number of copies of it. Even if the posting is retracted, it may still be cached on the Internet in many places for years and years to come. In the past (before the Internet) most of us committed de minimis acts of Copyright infringement every day. We’d photocopy pages from a book, or make a copy of a cassette tape for a friend. Yes, they may be acts of infringement, but they are so small and undetectable as to make it unlikely that you would be caught. However, with the Internet, even one act of copying results in thousands, if not millions of potential copies being made. So the act is not small in any regard. And moreover, since your postings are available for all to see, they are readily detectable. In other words, it is a big deal, and it is pathetically easy to get caught. Unfortunately, since we have all be lulled into a sense of complacency, it comes as a rude awakening when what seem like innocent acts are construed as crimes.5. Examples of Internet Copyright Infringement One early case in this regard were the Scientology cases here in the Eastern District of Virginia. In those cases, a disgruntled former Scientologist posted entire tracts of the Scientology “Bible†on the Internet. The Church of Scientology considered this Copyrighted material. And unfortunately for the former Scientologist, the law was on the Church’s side. By posting these tracts, he effectively made an infinite number of copies of their texts, making them effectively public domain for all time. The church could not effectively “recover†its Copyrights to these documents. (Poor Martin Luther, all he had were 100 theses and a hammer and nails!). Music “sharing†was probably the next most famous case of Internet Copyright infringement, with the Napster cases being the most notable. Again, many naive users decried “big brother†and “big business†for interfering with their Copyright infringement fun. But the law is clearly on the Copyright holders side. You can’t just steal other people’s music and call it justice. The Napster cases illustrate how easy it is for companies to track down infringers. The Internet generally leaves a pretty clear path to your ISP and thus it is not hard for you to get caught uploading songs. The defense that a simple act of uploading is a “small†act of infringement is really specious. If thousands or millions of copies are downloaded as a result, the potential damages are huge. The Napster cases also illustrate the conundrum for the Copyright holder. Prosecuting 14-year-olds for Copyright infringement is bad press, and many Record labels were loath to go after on-line infringers for fear of bad press. However, in the end, they were forced to make examples of selected individuals (and will continue to do so) as the alternative is to surrender their Copyrights entirely. And while such IP anarchy may sound like fun, remember that no label is about to sign your garage band if they don’t think they can make money from your music. The good news is that systems are finally starting to be developed to allow for distribution of Copyrighted materials, such as songs, on the Internet, with mechanisms in place to collect royalties. It may take some time for people to get used to the idea of paying for music. But the Apple iPOD and Microsoft MediaPlayer demonstrate that a large number of people are willing to do just that. 6. So what can I post on the Internet? Anything? One complaint I hear from Internet users is that Copyright laws, if strictly enforced, would prevent them for posting ANYTHING on the Internet. This is of course, not true at all. If all you can post on the Internet is copies of other people’s work, you are being lazy, pure and simple. It takes no talent to plagiarize and to simple click and copy another’s work online. The easiest way to avoid infringement is to GENERATE YOUR OWN WORK. As noted above, you cannot copy an idea. So if you want to write something of your own that expresses the same IDEA in different WORDS as a Copyrighted material, you are free to do so. This is called “paraphrasingâ€. You can also get away with quoting small sections of a work (like a sentence or two). But bulk copying of entire paragraphs is probably a bad idea. And when it comes to copying, there is copying and then again there is COPYING. Certain Copyright holders (mostly big companies, particularly media companies) are going to be a LOT more aggressive about enforcing their Copyrights on the Internet. So keep this in mind if you feel tempted to “borrow†material. If you do inadvertently use someone else’s Copyrighted material and they notice it, chances are the worst that will happen is that you will be asked to remove the material from your website. The real damages out there are from infringers who are systematically using other people’s Copyrighted works for profit or gain. These are the big guns the Lawyers are going to go after – not you. And there is always the option of getting permission to use a work. As the old saying goes, it never hurts to ask, if you feel you really MUST copy an entire work or substantial portion for some reason. * * * * Copyright law is really rather simple to understand and work with. Just treat everything as Copyrighted and respect those rights, and you’ll likely not have much trouble.