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Jeremy B

Some advice needed...

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I have an idea for a new bait concept, but have niether the funds nor the resorces to produce it. I thought maybe a large tackle manufacturer would have interest in it. My question is this; how should I aproach a large corperation with my idea, and how do I protect myself from being ripped off by them? Also, if they were interested, what should I expect (royalties, flat purchase, ect.)

Thanx in advance Jeremy

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Do yourself a favor and search any online patents that you can find. I have no interest in selling or patenting anything, but ironically have come across ideas that I thought pretty "out there" online. Utterly amazing how many folks have tried to patent just about everything out there.

Rods with heated guides for coldweather, fabric paint lures (yeah, seriously), removable hook spinnerbaits, you name it!

One tends to think some of these folks don't actually fish much, they simply THINK they have practical ideas that warrent protection. I coudn't see a stiff, fabric paint worm actually working despite the products use for painting jigheads. Whole point of my search was to find out how to keep ice off guides, what IS fabric paint (MSDS), and IF there is a way to make a decent spinnerbait with and EWG.

Got a decent S-bait with an EWG in the box, better than the one the Online Patents describe! Theirs has a regular ol' single hook:lol:

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about 90 percent of fishing lures don't have a patent. biggest reason is most, not all, lures only have about a 2 year sales lifetime if mass produced anyway. longer sale lures are made good enough where if copied it doesn't hurt sales for long because people will always come back to the better lure.

as far as presenting it to industry? most won't even talk to you, it's a can of worms. to ''really'' protect yourself you need to spend some dough. $2500.00 to 5 grand easy on a very simple patent application seen through to the end. and with that your close to doing it yourself anyway. if you believe it's that good, trully believe, just make it happen yourself. make it your lifes goal and you will do it. little here little there and determination. thats my 2 cents.

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I did a remodel for a patent attorney, and he suggested getting a copyright for any designs, since copyrights are much easier to get and easier to enforce.

If you're serious, I'd suggest you contact another Jeremy, from Black Dog Baits. He "invented" the Lunker Punker, which he patented, I think.

He's a real person, not a stuffed shirt, so I'm pretty sure he'd give you the straight dope.

You can also go to the Big Bass Zone, and asked Bill Siemental, the designer of the BBZ1, which is the best, cheapest swimbait out there. He's a straight shooter, and will certainly give you good advice.

Good luck.

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Most lure companies are inveterate design thieves. A successful design WILL be knocked off in a matter of a few months and the originator will find that a patent or copyright is only as good as the tons of money you are willing throw at lawyers to enforce it after it exists. Practically speaking, that's a loser's game. The Chatterbait is a good current example. That lure placed high the the Bassmaster Classic a few years ago, and demand for them rocketed. They worked around the clock to get out as many Chatterbaits as possible in the window of time they had before other lure companies came out with a copy and started to chip away at their market. Within a year, there were knockoffs being sold by every major and most minor lure companies in the U.S. I hope they made tons of money in that short period because the bloom was certainly off the rose quickly. If your 'great idea' is truly great, IMO the best you can hope for is to partner with a small to medium sized company that can ramp up manufacture quickly so you can make some bucks off it before the herd tramples you under foot. Sad but true.

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