Q: I have a idea/ invention. I am a simple man no money. Can I just sell my idea streight to a company

A: It is possible to sell an idea to a company but it is difficult without a patent or at least a patent application so that you have something to sell.

The company could seek a patent listing you as an inventor but it may be hard to get traction with them. Many companies will not talk to an inventor until there is a patent application on file as they use the patent application to define the scope of the non-disclosure non-use agreement.

You may want to seek some free advice on this issue from the California Small Business Development Center. http://www.californiasbdc.org/ or in Colorado https://www.coloradosbdc.org/locations

I hope this helps.

Kevin E Flynn

A: This is a common question among inventors. Unfortunately, there is no satisfactory answer.

The feeling in the business development community is that just having an idea by itself is not very valuable. New ideas are dime a dozen. Your idea may be a great idea, it may even be a patentable invention, but that does not make you money. The value comes from doing something with the idea. The value comes from refining it, prototyping it, test marketing it, producing it, shipping it, selling it, etc. And if you are not willing to do the work that it takes to make your idea work, why would someone put their time and effort to make your idea work?

To paraphrase Edison, success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Thomas Edison wasn’t the inventor of lightbulb because he had an idea of passing electricity through a wire to make it glow, but because he made hundreds of experiments until he came to the right combination to make a commercially viable light bulb.