Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California
My wife and I own a automotive interior business and do a lot of work for the new car dealer ships in our area. I developed a field repair kit for the 2008 & up Ford truck headliners with sun roofs, the reason I did this is because the factory application parts always fail. I have checked all areas of my kit for failures and improvements, I've covered all points with no failures or improvements to be made. I want to protect my design and sale it to Ford, the reason I'm taking this rout this time is I was screwed over by GM a few years ago on the same subject of improving their product after they had came to me for the steps of my repairs to some of their vehicles. I have documented the date of conception ID the trucks with my repairs photos, views, parts and steps of the repair. The cost of this kit is minimal compared to the cost of replacing the headliners in their trucks.
Gene
3 Answers from Attorneys
I would contact a patent attorney and see if you can get a patent. Then maybe Ford will buy it.
I would indeed recommend talking to a patent attorney, but with two approaches in mind: first, the patent process itself, and there is maybe a 20% or so possibility that you have something that's patentable. In addition, a good patent (intellectual property) lawyer should be able to advise you, even if the idea turns out to be unpatentable, how you can receive some compensation for a valuable, if probably unpatentable, idea.
So, copyright and trademark it. Patent it if that is possible and economically justified. Negotiate a licensing or purchase contract with Ford, if possible. You'll need IP counsel for all that. Hire one.
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