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When my husband got the willes (yes bad pun) watching the River Monsters episode on candirus last Christmas, I made him a candiru Christmas tree ornament and named it Claude. I can’t sculpt, so it’s not so good and certainly not anatomically accurate, but the intention is for it to look cartoony. Some of my friends who have seen Claude have requested one of their own, and I have been told by quite a few people I should patent him and make them. I made some Claudes to ebay, but they told me to protect my idea first. I don’t have a clue how to do so though, or what it would cost/whether it would be worth it. I haven’t been able to find any candiru tchotchkes online, though I’m not good at searches. If I’m going to make a bunch though, I need to learn how to mold and cast in some less fragile plastic/rubber too. And then hey, I could repackage gummy worms as candy-rus… 😀
I don’t know, it’s a stupid idea, but so are Billy Bob teeth. 😀 Anything that may help my family at the moment would be worth it.Those are the reason I will not swim in untreated water LOL.
Umm nothing to add about your question though 😳 .
I’d be interested in seeing what you’ve created myself! As far as the patent I found this website http://www.uspto.gov/ Wanted to find something that would be legit. You can start there and read the info–I just typed ‘patent’ into my search engine and this was one of the sites that came up. Good luck! I hope this works out for you.
I can try to answer things for you (I’m a patent agent). But it sounds to me like you have something that would be more suitable for a design patent and/or trade dress than your standard patent (which is what I do). The website LadyFirebird put up is the ONLY source for official information on patents. But there are other websites, mostly from law firms, on patents as well that are good for information.
Thanks for all the info, esp. LadyFirebird and ghostndragon! I went to your website, Fern, and it looks like yes it isn’t something that you would get a patent on- so far, it looks like it needs a copyright (though I guess it has a limited sort of one now without y doing anything) and perhaps to trademark the name? I haven’t found the info yet on design patents and trade dress; the regular patents were more than I can afford but I do plan on copyrighting it ASAP. Can’t afford a lawyer yet either for what is really a silly idea, and haven’t found any patent ones in my local phone book. My husband doesn’t want me to post a photo now, but i have done so before. I will try to figure out how to put writing in the photo (or take a new one with a piece of paper lol) and post it, but he really is dumb i’m warning. 😀
Here ya go, pip. This is the US Patent Office’s guide to filing a design patent: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/pdf/brochure_05.pdf
There are some pictures and some explanations, but it’s pretty technical. The best way to get a feel for what one looks like and how to go about getting one is to look some up and see what’s similar between them and different between them. If you can put together most of the materials prior to talking to an attorney, it will save on costs. I also recommend getting high quality images drafted by someone who works with computer drafting software. It will make it clearer as to what you are claiming as your design than a hand drawing, unless the hand drawings are done extremely well. Depending on the intricacy of your design, this can be fairly inexpensive or not. I’ve worked with some people who do drawings for patents for a living and $500 can get you a lot, though you can find people with higher and lower rates. Free is NOT always best.
To look at design patents, I would use Google Patent (http://www.google.com/patents). Design patents begin with the letter “D” and are followed by a 6-digit number. Currently, design patents are in the 500000 range. Here is a random example: http://www.google.com/patents?id=M54RAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
You can input random numbers just to see what the design patents look like and to see what information is included in real-life examples.To help you:
Copyright is the protection that you automatically have the moment you create something tangible and unique (e.g. not derivative or fringing upon another). In the USA you have copyright the instant you make it. However, if you anticipate ever needing to defend your copyright and collect damages, it is wise to formally register your copyright with the US copyright office. It gives you that much more protection.
In general, you have copyright protection over your creation even if you do not actively defend it (though if you do not, you can have slippery slope problems if it ever came to a court battle).Trademark is a bit more complicated. I will try to keep it simple; trademark is defined as being a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual or a company to identify a product or service associated with said trademark. What this means is that a trademark is associated with a product so that when you look at the trademark, you know the origins of the product. Examples of trademarks are: The Niki name and graphical “swoosh”, the words “Windstone Editions”, Snerl (the Windstone griffin logo), the Pepsi name and Logo, and so on. A trademark is essentially a MARK (name, logo, image, etc) that identifies a product or line of products. Trademarks must be registered and you must actively defend against infringements. Trademark only applies within your product range when a trademark is placed on an existing word: if you trademark a word, someone else can ALSO own the trademark on that word IF their product cannot be confused with yours. For example: There is a Delta airline, a Delta faucet, Delta Dental, etc. All of these companies own a trademark on the word “Delta” but because the products they are selling are much different then it is okay. Unless you are having a really bad day, most people would not assume they can go to Delta Dental and purchase airline tickets..!
Trade Dress is possibly the most complex one of all. It is one I do not understand well enough to preach about here– but in essence it is designed to protect the overall look of a unique and– importantly– a distinct product or look. It is essentially designed to protect customers from imitation ‘knock offs’ if you will, however of course this also helps to protect the creator as well. Items covered by Trade Dress also may not be functional.
A Patent is the government granted protection for a unique and new invention. In general, patents apply to something that one invents, discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.
I don’t think you are wanting a patent. Your fish are not really functional; they are a ornamental artwork design and I think you would want to register a formal copyright.
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My art: featherdust.comJennifer wrote:To help you:
A Patent is the government granted protection for a unique and new invention. In general, patents apply to something that one invents, discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.
I don’t think you are wanting a patent. Your fish are not really functional; they are a ornamental artwork design and I think you would want to register a formal copyright.
While this is true of regular patents, it is not true of design patents. Design patents are intellectual property protection on a design that cannot be functional.ghostndragon wrote:Jennifer wrote:To help you:
A Patent is the government granted protection for a unique and new invention. In general, patents apply to something that one invents, discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.
I don’t think you are wanting a patent. Your fish are not really functional; they are a ornamental artwork design and I think you would want to register a formal copyright.
While this is true of regular patents, it is not true of design patents. Design patents are intellectual property protection on a design that cannot be functional.True, but I genuinely think that in this case, a design patent is not what is needed… it’s a lot of expense and hassle for something that would be more easily covered by Copyright.
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My art: featherdust.comLooks like from my research, copyright is the main way to go (am doing so ASAP). I need to research trade dress more, not sure what to do there, but it sounded like it is something that would pertain to my situation. Since it has a name associated with it, I may want/need to trademark that name, but a standard trademark would have nothing to do with the thing itself so it would be a later thing to do. I could cover the style/look of it, but that’s kind of hard with a poorly sculpted worm I think. 😳 😀 Maybe after I make a bunch, I’ll get a certain style down that’s recognizable. It would cover the way I’ve been painting them too.
For those who asked, here’s a pic of the original Claude the Candiru and a new one that has a home.
Those are cute!
I wasn’t 100% sure what you meant when you described them, now I see they are a bit different than what I mentally pictured.If I may ask— before you go to any expense of formally registering anything, make sure that you know what protection it will grant you. While it wouldn’t hurt anything to register, the only real protection that it would grant you would be to protect you if someone made exact copies and started selling them. It wouldn’t prevent anyone else from making candiru ornaments since they are a real fish that exists. You just have to ask yourself if the risk of someone making candiru ornaments exactly like yours AND selling them for a profit is high enough to warrant the expense on your part or not. It’s a personal choice. 🙂
Remember that you already own the copyright on your specific creation. Registering it will just make sure that if you need to take someone to court, you can collect damages if they are selling something that infringes on your copyright.Best wishes with what you decide to do!
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My art: featherdust.com
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