Logo of the Inventors Association of St. Louis

Inventors Connection
Inventors Association
of Saint Louis

Logo of the Inventors Association of St. Louis

Inventors Association of St. Louis (IASL) - Marketeers
PO Box 410111
St. Louis, MO   63141
Tel: 314-432-1291
Fax:
Contact: Robert Scheinkman, Director
E-mail: Director@inventorsconnection.org
Web Page: www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/speeches/05-40.htm

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Zillion Dollar Idea? Hey! Deal me in.
"There are literally millions of patents out there -- Free, U.S. and Foreign -- that are yours to pick up and copy. They have expired after four or more years!!" -- Here was the question that I had read on the USPTO's chat page:
[from] Koby (Sep 21, 2004 2:49:35 PM)
"Is your website the best place to educate myself about patenting my invention? I need to learn the basics and don't want to spend too much time and money if the idea I have is already patented."

-- -- I'll answer this one -- this is my answer to you: -- "My entire purpose was Providing Proper Information. -- Making it accessible and readable inside our IASL Website; and that was how I've done it."

-- "And where does it say that you have to have 'yours' patented? Nowhere does it say that."
-- Get that thought out of your head. This is a Free Country. -- You can invent it and sell it or even give it away. That is your right to do so.
-- Patenting-it is but one way, Trademarking is another,
and Copyrighting is another..

("If it ain't worth nothin to nobody - but you, who'd steal it or buy it anyway? Nobody but you, dummy. - Get that into your head!!") Don't you forget this!! Just don't infringe.

-- There are literally millions of patents out there -- Free, U.S. and Foreign -- that are yours to pick up and copy. They have expired after four or more years!! -- You won't have to pay the patent owners a dime. Just make sure that you copy it exactly; because you might be infringing upon the newer, up-dated utility-patented version, and you don't want to do that. -- Better to check with your patent attorney or patent agent, first.

-- "Money isn't everything. It's just way ahead of whatever else is in second place." -- ;-)

-- "The Database Diva" Formula for More Sales: A Website, a Marketing Database and a Story To Tell --

-- The longer you can stay around the better your business should be. That is because there are more people to profit from it: -- "It took from the beginning of time until 1800 for the world's population to reach a total of 1,000,000,000, but only 130 years more,
-- 1930, for it to reach two billion people."
And by 2011, there is almost 7,000,000,000 people.

-- -- "Life expectancy for men in the U.S. in 1900, 46.6 years; in 2000, 72.7 years; in 2005, 77.6 years...
...Life expectancy for women in the U.S., in 1900, 48.7 years; in 2000, 76.1 years; in 2005, 80.1 years."

-- "The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision something, you can do it." -- Arnold Schwartzenegger

-- "Electronic 'iShoe' aims to prevent falls" --

-- "FOXNews.com - Sony Shows Off Paper-Thin, Bendable Video Display - Science News" --

-- "BBC News - Quantum trick for pressure-sensitive mobile devices" --

-- "Honda's walking device helps with heavy tasks" --

-- "New spray-on solar cells invented" --

-- "Solar Powered Automatic Curtain Opener - Inventions - Inventors Showcase - Invention Showcase - New Inventions - Patent Showcase" --

-- "More than one billion people on Earth are between the ages of 15 and 24."

"World Peace Through Scientific Advancement" -- Remember the scene in the movie "The Graduate," where they were trying to tell Benjamin what career he should follow: "Plastics!" -- That was the advice of the 1950's. The advice of the 1960's was "Space Exploration." In the eras: 1970's: "Computers." 1980's: "The Internet." 1990's: "Education for All." And now in the 21st Century: -- "World Peace Through Scientific Advancement" ..Or, as your mother once emphasized her demands and scolded you into submission: "You better listen!! -- You listen to me or I'll kill you!!" :-) - [Just hope you make it past December 21st, 2012.]

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
--->> "The Truth About Wondering" --
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

-- I came across a newspaper clipping, an old faded remnent of something that I saved from years ago and I want to share it with you. I want you to realize that a dollar once bought a grocery bag full of groceries. -->

A 1965 NEWSPAPER CLIPPING:
-- "Before I give you other aspects to give you perspective, here's a table giving key years in which the dollar is assumed to be worth 100c and the value of that dollar today.

$ Which was "worth" 100c in December of.... Today is "worth"
1913..............................32c
1939..............................44c
1946..............................67c
1950..............................78c
1955..............................84c
1960..............................94c
1961..............................94c
1962..............................95c
1963..............................97c
1964..............................98c
1965............................100c

-- The favorite year for comparison is 1939, because it marked a turning point in United States history. But the majority of you were either not born or were under 21 when World War II began. It's far too ancient a year for realistically appropriate comparisons. The period to study is that since 1950, for even tho it was the beginning of the Korean conflict, it has been a more normal era."

"If YOU work for a man..." -- -- "If YOU work for a man..."

"If you work for a man, in Heaven's name, work for him. If he pays you wages which supply you bread and butter, work for him; speak well of him, stand by him and stand by the institution he represents. If put to a pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness. If you must vilify, condemn and eternally disparage--resign your position, and when you are outside, damn to your heart's content, but as long as you are part of the institution do not condemn it. If you do that, you are loosening the tendrils that are holding you to the institution, and at the first high wind that comes along, you will be uprooted and blown away, and probably will never know the reason why." -- Elbert Hubbard

-- "The Value of Science" --

-- -- INVENTORS SOCIETY OF SOUTH FLORIDA --

-- Visit -- "Inventors Society of South Florida" -- and check out the new list of links to information you can use right now: valuing your invention, legal counsel, product presentation, licensing, video pitching and much more.

-- Be sure to check out Cathy's Links for this month and read the Recent Speakers page to find out what meeting attendees learn.

==============================================
-- "A Christmas Story" --
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-- "Eureka! Inventing" --

-- "Welcome to the Invention Connection® Cyberspace Convention!" --

Progress is accomp-lished by the man who does things. -- "It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic, is of altogether secondary importance, and that in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things." -- Theodore Roosevelt

ACTUAL PASSPORT APPLICATION LETTER

Dear Mrs. Ms. or Sir:

I'm in the process of renewing my passport and still cannot believe this.

How is it that Radio Shack has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a cable TV from them in 1987 (22 years ago), and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date.

For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand? Ever heard of computers?

My birth date you have in my social security file.

It's on EVERY income tax form I've filed for the past 30 years.

It's on my Medicare health insurance card and my driver's license,

It's on the last eight damn passports I've had,

It's on every stupid customs declaration form I've had to fill out before being allowed off the plane for the last 30 years.

And it's on all those census forms that we have to do at election times.

Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Maryanne, my father's name is Robert and I'm reasonably confident that neither name is likely to change between now and when I die.

Between you an' me, I've had enough of this bureaucratic bullshit!

You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my f______address. What is going on? You must have a gang of bureaucratic Neanderthal morons working there!

Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? And "No," I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for shit sakes. I just want to go and park my ass on a sandy beach.

And would someone please tell me, why would you give a damn whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days?

If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, I'd sure as hell not want to tell anyone!

Well, I have to go now because I have to go to the other end of the city and get another f______ copy of my birth certificate - to the tune of $100.

Would it be so difficult to have all the services in the same area so I could get a new passport the same day?

Nooooo, that would require planning and organization. And it would be too logical for the f_______ government. You'd rather have us running all over the place like chickens with our heads cut off. Then, we have to find some asshole to confirm that it's really me on the damn picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile.

Hey, you know why we can't smile?

We're totally pissed off!

Signed
- An Irate Citizen.

P.S. Remember what I wrote about getting someone to confirm that the picture is me?

Well, my family has been in the United States of America since 1776. I have served in the military for something over 35 years and have had security clearances up the ying yang.

However, I have to get someone important to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN INDIA!

And you ass holes want to run our health care system?????
==========================================

-- "Trademark Document Retrieval" --

1974: The 1,000,000th trademark was registered to Cumberland Packing Corp, for a simple G clef and staff design used on "Sweet'n Low"

-- "I feel that you are justified in looking into the future with true assurance, because you have a mode of living in which we find the joy of life and the joy of work harmoniously combined. Added to this is the spirit of ambition which pervades your very being, and seems to make the day's work like a happy child at play." -- Albert Einstein - [Referring to America]

-- "SPECTRUM ON LINE For Tech Insiders" --

The Uniform Code Council (UCC) has now become the more dominate bar-code, being very recognized as the standard around the world. -- -- Changing from UPC to UCC -- --

-- Effective January 1, 2005, American retailers were required to make changes in their computer and software to read the 13 digit European UCC bar-code. -- The globalization of manufactured products has forced the American Universal Product Code (UPC), containing 12 digits, which has been around for 30 years, into the next level of tracking inventory.

-- When the Europeans created their present bar-code system in 1977, which was patterned after the UPC, it was then determined that they would need 13 digits to recognize more products and countries associated with the European Common Market and beyond. -- The Uniform Code Council (UCC) has now become the more dominate bar-code, being very recognized as the standard around the world.

-- Scanner systems currently reading the UCC 13 digit codes will have no problems reading existing UPC 12 digit codes.

-- Move Over Bar Code; RFID Is On The Way

-- "Innovation technology continues to change our lives every second of every day. The development of Radio Frequency Identificatiom (RFID) will have a profound effect on industry and consumers alike. Still in its infancy, with no agreed upon standard as of yet, RFID tags will eventually find favor onto each product made and allow them to be tracked through their entire life cycle - from manufacture to the sale of the item.
-- Products produced off-shore can be tracked to and through shipping ports, in and out of distribution terminals, on to the retail shelves, in and out of shopping carts and maybe, in the future, into the recycling process.
-- The first uses of RFID are in managing the supply chain for the big box retailers like WalMart, Target and the Dept. of Defense. As the technology moves into the retail outlets, consumers will be able to load up the cart and walk out the front door, being self checked-out. Inventory will be easier to control and will reduce shop-lifting.
-- At the forefront of RFID technology is a Minnesota company, now a subsidiary of 3M." [Minnesota's Inventors Network - June 2004

-- "BBC NEWS | Technology | Audio labels speak to the blind" --

-- "Special Plastic Sleeves May Stop Identity Theft -- e-Passport data easily stolen; New passports and some ID cards contain radio frequency identification chips. But your personal data can be read from a distance with inexpensive tools. Special sleeves can block the snooping."

-- "Multi-directional rfid reader for controlling inventory and shelf stock invention" --

-- "My Way News - Microchips Everywhere: a Future Vision" --

-- "International Trading" --

-- "Legal Protection of Digital Information"

Get him to return your call First of all, let’s figure out what your purpose is when you leave a voicemail message. Is it to make a sale? No. The only purpose is to get him to return your call; otherwise you will find yourself making numerous repeat calls to his voicemail box.

When you leave a message, leave him only enough information to make him want to find out more info. The only way to find out more info is to return your call. For example, once you get the name of the person and are put through to his voicemail, you say something like:

“Mr. Jones, this is Paul Niemann, and I’m the person who created the instant oven-cleaning product known as the WidgetMaster 8000. My research has shown that it would be a good addition to your product line of kitchen products, so please give me a call at your convenience and I will give you the details. My number is 217-555-1234.”

Let his sense of curiosity work in your favor.

What not to say: Avoid making a claim that sounds too good to be true, such as “I’ve created the next Google.” Even if it is true, most people won’t believe you. Also, avoid rambling on about your new product. Short and sweet is better than a long essay. Remember, it’s very easy to delete voicemail messages.

Finally, do leave him your phone number and spell out the number s-l-o-w-l-y so he can write it down.

How many times should you leave a voicemail message?

Just once or twice; any more than that is a nuisance to him and could make him think you are a pest. That would ruin your chances once you finally get through to him, or it could cause him to screen your calls. When you continue to get his voicemail each time, just hang up and try again later.

If you call at the same time every day and all you get is his voicemail message, then try calling him at a different time of day. If you get screened out by his secretary, then call him before 8:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. when the secretary isn’t there. Also, sending e-mail is a good way to make that first contact when calling doesn’t get you anywhere.

One other thing to keep in mind is that he probably receives 20 – 30 phone calls a day, so just because he doesn’t return your message, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s not interested.