I am looking for someone to help manufacture and market a US Patent Pending Idea for a New and Improved beach product. But I am finding out that all the manufactures are in China. My question is; how can I get a manufacture to license my idea if they are all in another country?
My Patent Pending ends in May 2005. As you can see I need to get my invention out there before the time is up. Utility Patents cost a lot of money. If you don?t have the money to pay for it, you loose everything. You can loose all rights to the patent office, all rites to your invention, and your idea will become public property.

If anyone has a suggestions
Please let me know, I need all the help I can get.

Thank you,

Wbragg

Find an American company that markets or distributes "beach products" and talk to them.
If they will see a potential in your idea they will make a licensing deal with you.

while true that most products are now manufactured in China, there are ways to go about this.

first, as mentioned, find out what U.S. companies (esp branded ones) are in the business. you can approach them, but be aware that if they don't have in-house manufacturing then they are Marketing-driven. in that case, they'll be very influenced by an attractive, working prototype. if it's a simple, easily-explained product, a "looks like" model is sufficient. maybe even a high-rez cg image; but model costs have come down quite a bit.

another option is to go straight to a Chinese company. don't assume they don't have offices in the U.S. - many do. if i were you, i'd be researching and finding out who actually makes the products for those American companies. look them up on the net. chances are you'll find a Chinese website with a link somewhere on it (can be hard to find if you don't speak the language) that takes you to the webpage of a U.S. office. most seem to be in the NYC, Dallas, and Milwaukee areas.

ok, so you find the Chinese manufacturers U.S. location. next problem is: why do they care? they don't normally market your idea. so at this point you have to become the marketing/salesperson for your product. that means doing the same thing meeting retailers as if you were meeting the U.S. companies - except more. you'll need to know all the details of how to get your product onto their shelf. on time. in volume. etc etc.

IF you can get a Purchase Order from a retailer large enough to cover the capital investment and initial order, you'r golden. use the PO to get a bank loan, go back to the Chinese manufacturer, and cut a deal. the nightmare begins! you'll have to manage the product's development. you'll have to handle all the legal issues (import/export, liability, etc). you'll need to hire accountants to handle the books while you jet off to China for "first shots". aso.

it's a LOT of work. but if you're up for it, it can be done. good luck.

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your advice.
I was scared to contact those in other countries, but I took a chance and now I have manufactures that what to license my idea.
I posted ads on Alibaba and other B2B sites and I am now getting a big response from manufactures all around the world. They are all agreeing to sign a NDA.
When I received the NDA I sent out my presentation, again a good response.
The only problem I have now is they are asking me my terms and conditions. Since this is my first attempt at marketing an idea I?m not sure what I should ask for or what conditions I need to protect me. What is a good royalty percentage? How much ?up front money? is normal? Should I ask the manufacturer to pay for the completion of the patent process? How do I know that they are not ripping me off by hiding sales? What else do I need to have for conditions? Sorry for so many questions but they are asking for a response in a few days.

Thanks for all of your previous help.
wkbragg

i would highly recommend hiring legal counsel. find someone local to you. a few hours of their time is money very well spent imo. also might consider a lawyer both with IP experience and with overseas experience or contacts.

generally i hear people getting 2 or 3% of wholesale price (ties profits to how much manufacturer makes). i also hear that companies will attempt to put time limits (like 5 or 10 years) on this which is a bad idea. further they may want to put yearly maximums; and if they insist, then you should demand a minimum afaic. this insures that they actually get the item made and try to move the product instead of doing nothing (how many movies languish for years after someone buys the rights?). my understanding is that there are ways to check to ensure you get your money. essentially you have the right to audit them, but how that works out with overseas companies i don't know.

if mine, i would sacrifice percentage for upfront cash and a minimum yearly. if you have one good idea you probably have more. take your earnings and your learnings and do it again.... just bigger and better. congrats on your success.

btw, i'd like to hear more about your ads. could you be more specific? i need to check that out (heading over to Alibaba now). thanks.

i should also mention that you are part of a new trend i've noticed for a few years and which is now making the news: ODM's. as mentioned in another post of mine, design and engineering is migrating overseas. before a U.S. company did the ID, the engineering and then tooled the product. first went manufacturing. then engineering. and now design. what's left is marketing/sales/finance. the marketing people are now actively buying products pre-made and those Chinese manufacturers just show them catalogs from which they can select a product, choose a color and specify brand/logo location.

recent article on Virgin's move to San Jose to start up their own electronics hardware business (with 10 people) highlighted this. they will do what Sony and the rest are already doing.... buy from Taiwanese ODM's. Memcorp (Memorex) is doing this. so are appliance manufacturers and many others.

there's a strong likelihood your product will end up in a catalog. this is excellent news for inventors. for the short term anyway, it gives us opportunities that focus more on what we do - invent - and less on what we don't - market and sell.

I am sorry for not replying to anyone in awhile I have been sick
What I would like to say is? thank you for giving me hope and to never giving up

wkbragg,

Can you provide us the update and outcome on your international licensing?


regards
Ken