You’ve laboured long in the shed or had a supernova of inspiration, and have come up with a widget that is going to make your fortune. It is innovative, transformational and, best of all, highly desirable.
Now comes the difficult part. You are naturally reluctant to reveal any details to anyone, being understandably fearful that your invention will, as so often happens, be stolen. What to do?
If the widget is granted a patent by the government, no one else can make and sell it without your permission and without paying an agreed payment per item, called a royalty. If you wish to gain intellectual protection (IP) in the form of a patent, you will probably have to consult — and pay — a patent attorney. If you want an international tool company to make your widget one of its products, you will have to have obtained a patent before it will even consider it.
An instant hit
The founder of the Australian electrical equipment manufacturer Kambrook, Frank Bannigan, developed the first power board for his own use in the rented shed in which he was working on new home appliances. The power board has several electrical sockets joined together. When put into production, his power board was an immediate hit and was the foundation of Kambrook’s success, but the idea wasn’t protected and other manufacturers swiftly copied it.
