Submitting an idea to a Big Company

[Fdtruckie]

Hello Everyone,


Does anyone have any suggestions for submitting an idea to a Emergency Lighting Company. I have had some wicked ideas on paper for a while and i would love to submit them.

 

[led0987]

I would recommend contacting some local large distributors in your area for the company you are interested in submitting ideas to and asking them what the best course of action is. I know when my police department was designing our last batch of cars we had an idea to mount a certain light head below our light bars and the company was willing to do it, but we had to go through the proper channels. Most companies are willing to listen to end user ideas but make sure they are through the proper channels with the proper support. I'm sure most of the large companies get dozens of phone calls a day from people saying "your company should build this, or do this?" and they probably just hang up on them politely.

 

[Stendec]

I would also make certain that your own self interests are looked after. If it's a genuinely valuable idea, you should certainly be compensated fairly.

 

[JohnMarcson]

I would patent it before sharing it.....


I knew a person who posted and submitted an idea for a product and a fairly major company started making it.... he was compensated zero. It might seem expensive to go for a patent on something now, but you really can't afford to sue a major company for taking your idea.

 

[Shawn L]

another thing to note... its amazing how many large companies hold patents on items that aren't even released yet, I looked into led hideaways and there were patents issued 2-3 years before they were even publicly talked about , just cause you haven't seen it yet dosent mean they don't own the idea..

 

[DaveCN5]

I also think it depends don what exactly you are trying to acheive out of this. Is this something you want for personal use or something that you think should be applied industry-wide? Do you want to make a profit off of the idea?


First thing I would do is get some feedback from trusty worthy end users that would possibly look into using one of your ideas. Get it critiqued, alter it, etc. If it gets good back, I would consider getting a patent for it. However, if you cannot afford it, I would try and talk to some of your target companies briefly and see if they even except outside ideas, but do not share the idea with them right away. Give them enough to become intrigued, but that's it. The thing you don't want to do (I've seen it happen) is give them all of the details of your plan right out of the gate. They could take it, copy it, but alter it just slightly enough to the point of them being able to say "our design is different from yours" if you were to sue them.