New none invasive medical device idea. Need advise

J85d

Hello all. This is my first post on here. I am a collage student in galway. I have a very good none invasive medical device idea.
My lecturer thinks it is a very good idea and says it has a lot of potential. So I done a project on it and submitted it to the head of the collage. Since that point it has been on hold. The head of collage said he will bring it to the buisness start up board and go from there. Now there board are short staffed and have no engineers on the board. I am really egar to get a prototype made and so on. But I need help or guidance as to where to go next who to trust and who can help me developed this? Any ideas advise woukd be amazing. Thanks

Bandara

J85d wrote: »

Hello all. This is my first post on here. I am a collage student in galway. I have a very good none invasive medical device idea.
My lecturer thinks it is a very good idea and says it has a lot of potential. So I done a project on it and submitted it to the head of the collage. Since that point it has been on hold. The head of collage said he will bring it to the buisness start up board and go from there. Now there board are short staffed and have no engineers on the board. I am really egar to get a prototype made and so on. But I need help or guidance as to where to go next who to trust and who can help me developed this? Any ideas advise woukd be amazing. Thanks

Make sure your not giving part share in your idea to the college by engaging with them / using their facilities

StereoSound

I'd be looking at getting patents done pretty fast if it's a genuinely unique piece of equipment you have come up with. I am not saying your college is going to claim ownership of your idea but you just don't know who is listening. I'd prefer to be doing all the representing of this idea to the business start up board myself and not the head of the college. Just saying.

People in colleges are not the types to be relying on to help you start your business. If they were they wouldn't be working in colleges. And its unlikely they are clued into the the industry in terms of margins, manufacturing, distribution, competition and so on.

Much better to go to a company in the industry who given your age are less likely to steal your idea off you and maybe look at it seriously and give you a small piece of the pie if they take the product to market.

Bringing a product to market from conception to shelf can be two years of work and serious amounts of money. It involves knowledge on multiple different business areas - design, manufacturing, sales, distribution, logistics. Unless you have a proper mentor who's done it before and someone willing to give you a chunk of cash that you might well lose since its your first time in business, its very unlikely you'll be able to make it happen, thus the route of taking it to an existing player with all the experience necessary. Normally I wouldn't recommend that because they'd just steal the idea, but given your youth I'd say they'd look at it differently and reward you.

Also sort out your spelling and grammar if your making presentations, no excuse these days for that!

duploelabs

Deleted User wrote: »

Also sort out your spelling and grammar if your making presentations, no excuse these days for that!

*you're

duploelabs

duploelabs wrote: »

*you're

I was just testing everyone :pac:

Bandara

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I was just testing everyone :pac:

Mods

BAN please.

pedroeibar1

I read the OP and skipped. It has to be a spoof; nobody in 3rd level can be that stupid, even in GMIT.

ironclaw

If it was me OP, I'd be echoing the advise to get a patent on it quick. You are wasting your time with college authorities as they are frankly useless unless it has a grant or slap on the back for them. When you have a patent in place, your in Galway so you have front row seats to a huge raft of medical companies. Do a LinkedIn search and seeks some folks out for a chat. I will however prepare yourself for two things:

- Its probably been done before and may not even be commercially viable. Industry moves fast and very few college types would be on the bleeding edge or be aware of latest trends. I'd take their praise with a pinch of salt.
- Prototyping, let alone approval, could take years and millions of euros in cash. With that in mind, I'd skip any idea of 'Young Entrepreneur' competitions. You need guys and girls with deep pockets so don't waste your time for pittance and a photo in the paper. Aim high initially.

mrawkward

OP is a one post wonder who has never even had a second visit to the forum. The post lacks even the slightest hint of credibility

ironclaw

ironclaw wrote: »

If it was me OP, I'd be echoing the advise to get a patent on it quick. You are wasting your time with college authorities as they are frankly useless unless it has a grant or slap on the back for them. When you have a patent in place, your in Galway so you have front row seats to a huge raft of medical companies. Do a LinkedIn search and seeks some folks out for a chat. I will however prepare yourself for two things:

- Its probably been done before and may not even be commercially viable. Industry moves fast and very few college types would be on the bleeding edge or be aware of latest trends. I'd take their praise with a pinch of salt.
- Prototyping, let alone approval, could take years and millions of euros in cash. With that in mind, I'd skip any idea of 'Young Entrepreneur' competitions. You need guys and girls with deep pockets son't waste your time for pittance and a photo in the paper. Aim high initially.

We are talking to each other at this point and not the OP but in general I would advise before getting a patent on something with a product idea to speak to someone in the industry - hopefully a family friend - who has a basic grasp of the industry and business to see if the product really has any legs.
Having run a business for some years based around special products, even if a product is a good idea, there are still a million and one reasons why it might not work - barriers to entry into the market created by existing players and 'other' forces play a big part and can make things very frustrating.

And when dealing with anything that could be in the pharmaceutical industry the behavior of some companies and the breaking of laws to keep new products out of the market is blatant and flagrant. A patent could be a big waste of time and energy, and if you go down that route it needs to be submitted properly by a professional so that in the event your idea is really good the patent can't be navigated. Such advice and services don't come cheap!

mrawkward

It is possible to cheaply get some initial protection by following this advice to establish priority

The usual first step in the process of obtaining patent protection is to file an application for a patent at the Irish Patents Office. This provides a limited measure of protection for the invention, and enables the commercial possibilities of the invention to be investigated, without invalidating a subsequent patent granted for that invention in Ireland or abroad.

An Irish patent application is effective only in the Republic of Ireland, but if applications in other countries are filed within a period of one year from the date of filing of the Irish application, then the original Irish application date can be claimed as a "priority" date under an International Convention to which most developed countries adhere

mrawkward

mrawkward wrote: »

It is possible to cheaply get some initial protection by following this advice to establish priority

The usual first step in the process of obtaining patent protection is to file an application for a patent at the Irish Patents Office. This provides a limited measure of protection for the invention, and enables the commercial possibilities of the invention to be investigated, without invalidating a subsequent patent granted for that invention in Ireland or abroad.

An Irish patent application is effective only in the Republic of Ireland, but if applications in other countries are filed within a period of one year from the date of filing of the Irish application, then the original Irish application date can be claimed as a "priority" date under an International Convention to which most developed countries adhere

Yes this can all be done. The issue is when you file this patent, you can file it yourself, you can get a regular patent lawyer to file it or you can get a top patent lawyer to file it. The first two options which can be done cheaply essentially are very risky and might not be worth the time and energy, because if a big pharma company or similar comes along and want to make a competing product they will often find a way around it so your patent ends up being useless.
Some of the patents I've seen submitted are incredibly comprehensive, and really they need to be like this if your going to be putting a few years of your life towards developing something on the assumption nobody can copy it. This might not hold true for all industries but medical devices and things to do with health, its a very cutthroat arena.
It actually doesn't cost that much to get a really comprehensive application submitted, an extra few grand, maybe 5 to get the best people, but in general one man bands with ideas are not loaded with cash!

mrawkward

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes this can all be done. The issue is when you file this patent, you can file it yourself, you can get a regular patent lawyer to file it or you can get a top patent lawyer to file it. The first two options which can be done cheaply essentially are very risky and might not be worth the time and energy, because if a big pharma company or similar comes along and want to make a competing product they will often find a way around it so your patent ends up being useless.
Some of the patents I've seen submitted are incredibly comprehensive, and really they need to be like this if your going to be putting a few years of your life towards developing something on the assumption nobody can copy it. This might not hold true for all industries but medical devices and things to do with health, its a very cutthroat arena.
It actually doesn't cost that much to get a really comprehensive application submitted, an extra few grand, maybe 5 to get the best people, but in general one man bands with ideas are not loaded with cash!

El Rifle you seem to miss my point! This is how to establish priority. If the thing has legs then you can go the whole hog, if not...just walk

ted1

Bandara wrote: »

Make sure your not giving part share in your idea to the college by engaging with them / using their facilities

I get the feeling that it's to late.

ted1

mrawkward wrote: »

It is possible to cheaply get some initial protection by following this advice to establish priority

The usual first step in the process of obtaining patent protection is to file an application for a patent at the Irish Patents Office. This provides a limited measure of protection for the invention, and enables the commercial possibilities of the invention to be investigated, without invalidating a subsequent patent granted for that invention in Ireland or abroad.

An Irish patent application is effective only in the Republic of Ireland, but if applications in other countries are filed within a period of one year from the date of filing of the Irish application, then the original Irish application date can be claimed as a "priority" date under an International Convention to which most developed countries adhere

Patents are extremely expensive to defend.

mrawkward

mrawkward wrote: »

El Rifle you seem to miss my point! This is how to establish priority. If the thing has legs then you can go the whole hog, if not...just walk

Yeah thats fair enough, just pointing out that its a common mistake that people go for patents before having any idea if the product is viable, even if it is a clever concept. The ol Paris Treaty buys you some time, but in my experience not enough. All the steps that it takes to get to market is usually a 2 year thing, so you end up having to cough up for the patent filing before you know whats what.

tacofries

J85d wrote: »

Hello all. This is my first post on here. I am a collage student in galway. I have a very good none invasive medical device idea.
My lecturer thinks it is a very good idea and says it has a lot of potential. So I done a project on it and submitted it to the head of the collage. Since that point it has been on hold. The head of collage said he will bring it to the buisness start up board and go from there. Now there board are short staffed and have no engineers on the board. I am really egar to get a prototype made and so on. But I need help or guidance as to where to go next who to trust and who can help me developed this? Any ideas advise woukd be amazing. Thanks

If it is NUIG then be careful. They are meant to be extremely greedy and I was told that in the past they have taken large equity stakes in companies just for office space and the use of their legal team. Also was told by lectureres there that NUIG's legal staff have made a number of bad decisions regarding patents and IP. I haven't dealt with NUIG directly though so I have only heard of the above stories second hand.

It would be worth talking to Blackstone launchbad there as they give free advice to students

mrawkward

tacofries wrote: »

If it is NUIG then be careful. They are meant to be extremely greedy and I was told that in the past they have taken large equity stakes in companies just for office space and the use of their legal team. Also was told by lectureres there that NUIG's legal staff have made a number of bad decisions regarding patents and IP. I haven't dealt with NUIG directly though so I have only heard of the above stories second hand.

It would be worth talking to Blackstone launchbad there as they give free advice to students

See post #10