On Sun, 30 Aug 1998, Richard Pauli wrote: > John, > > No or maybe. The business case is weak, but the intellectual pride is > great. US Patent costs are absurd. And I don't even know what maintainance
Thank you all for your input. I can't say that I'm surprised at the general lack of enthusiasm for the notion of getting a patent. I do think my design is unique enough to get the patent but I doubt it would do me any good. I guess if an idea was really worth patenting then it woyuld be worth stealing too, as evidenced by all the counterfeit levi's and other name brand products. I'll check into that book. Thanks. Maybe I need one of those 2 year deals. If I had a dollar for everybody who told me I'd never make any money on my sundial design I'd probably have more money than I'll ever make on my sundial... yet I persevere. I don't know about the rest of the world (do the shepherd's really still use cylinder dials?) but here in the USA gnomonics is not exactly a mainstream activity. I wonder who has the record in terms of number of sundials sold. Probably some book with a pop up sundial like 'The Earth is a Sundial' (in Japan, 'Anno's Sundial') Will there be any activities at the convention in Seattle that would be open to non-registered people who just happened to drop by? John
