AboutPenny Ballou Expertise The Invention Process; Royalties; Licensing Inventions/Products; Pricing; Direct to Market; Marketing/Promotions; Patent Searching; DIY patent writing; Types of patents/costs/how to's; Funding (grants and Angel investors); Prototyping; Off-Shore sourcing.
Experience I am founder of an inventors group; Advisory Board President of www.inventored.org; former Licensing Executive Society member; researcher for www.piausa.org and a consultant; plus moderate and contribute to several online inventor discussion groups.
Publications Enter my email address into any search engine to find them.
Education/Credentials Invention development: well-studied and applied in all aspects of the process and an inventor myself with one invention in patent pending and others ramping up. Lived and attended schools in Mainland China and the UK.
Question I am writing you to ask for some words of wisdom.
Bottom line is I spent from 2002 to 2007 developing and patenting a really good product/process. I invested approx. $3mm in my own monies, again this is in addition to my time in which this was my sole focus. I had a company come in and take it over based on the assurance of a finalized long term deal in which they reneged on and left my company ruined in the wake. I am trying to get my focus back and I love to create new ideas, etc., but after this experience when one does come to mind I am quick to shut it off. To say this experience has left me wounded is an understatement. Have you ever met with or worked with persons like myself who have had a similar experience but have come back from it? I'm just curious as to how many inventors out there have ever been through something like this and how they looked at it in order to learn from it and put it behind them.
Answer I am writing you to ask for some words of wisdom. Bottom line is I spent from 2002 to 2007 developing and patenting a really good product/process. I invested approx. $3mm in my own monies, again this is in addition to my time in which this was my sole focus. I had a company come in and take it over based on the assurance of a finalized long term deal in which they reneged on and left my company ruined in the wake. I am trying to get my focus back and I love to create new ideas, etc., but after this experience when one does come to mind I am quick to shut it off. To say this experience has left me wounded is an understatement. Have you ever met with or worked with persons like myself who have had a similar experience but have come back from it? I'm just curious as to how many inventors out there have ever been through something like this and how they looked at it in order to learn from it and put it behind them.
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Greetings,
You've certainly been through some hoops it appears. Did you have a written agreement with this company who took your company over? It's hard for me to think of turning one's first-born over to an unknown babysitter only to find it abused and reduced to a mere shell. Where were you when all this was happening to your company?
I don't have personal experience but I've heard such stories though generally it's because the parties relied on verbal agreements or did not have a meeting of the minds in the first place. A good lawyer generally forsees such events and ensures client interests.
What you do is pick up the pieces and rebuild or move on. No time to look back. You're the entrepreneur. You've been there and done it and so it is you can do it again. What it will take is free and it's called "a Decision." When you're ready you wrap up the past, rebuild it, or move on to a new project is when you'll do it.
Dust off that entrepreneur hat, position it squarely on your head (when you're ready) and get going!!!!
