SIR JAMES DYSON: How to come up with a 広大な／多数の／重要な 発明 and then 保護する your idea from copycat cheats

By Sir James Dyson

Updated: 07:48 BST, 18 July 2013

億万長者 産業の-designer Sir James Dyson, who revolutionised the vacuum cleaner and 手渡す dryer, learned the hard way about the importance of 保護するing an idea.

He 会談 to This is Money about how budding inventors or designers can keep their 計画（する）s 安全な from 可能性のある 特許 cheats.

James Dyson: The inventor and designer gives his 最高の，を越す tips on 保護するing a fledgling idea

Getting a n idea and a 商売／仕事 off the ground 要求するs hard work and a fair dose of 決意. I spent years ? days and nights ? in a workshop, 精製するing 航空路s, separating dust and making thousands of 原型s to develop my cyclonic vacuum cleaner.

But there are always naysayers ? people, organisations even, who will tell you that your 発明 is 欠陥d and poke 穴を開けるs in your 科学（工学）技術. And then go on to impersonate it.

It happened to me when Hoover’s ３倍になる Vortex machine copied Dyson’s 二重の サイクロン 科学（工学）技術, but we are not alone. The British company Joseph Joseph is known for its ingenious, problem solving kitchenware. But they’ve spent as much time fighting 特許 cheats in 中国 as they have inventing. Copycats can 脅す a young inventor’s 暮らし and everything they have worked hard to 達成する.

Developing new 科学（工学）技術 is 堅い enough ? but 保護するing that idea often 証明するs harder. Dyson now spends nearly £1.5 million every week on 研究 and 開発. We 保護する our 知識人 所有物／資産／財産 and defend it robustly when we have to - Dyson now 持つ／拘留するs more than 3,000 特許s for over 500 発明s.

Here are my 最高の，を越す tips on coming up with an idea and keeping it 安全な:

Be inventive

The British Library is home to the 国家の collection of 特許s. It’s 奮起させるing to look through them ? you realise that some of the most ingenious ideas are the simplest, and c an be happy 事故s.

Alexander Graham Bell spent hours in the library poring over the diagrams of German 内科医 Herman 出身の Helmholtz. He couldn’t read German so misconstrued Helmholtz’s diagrams on frequencies, wrongly 再生するing his workings and inventing the telephone during the 過程.

When you’re 実験ing, you’ll often have one idea at the start of the design 過程, and arrive at a 完全に different one by the end. A lesson for any young inventor.

Build. And 実験（する）.

Of course problem solving isn’t about flicking through library 調書をとる／予約するs ? it’s about developing 有形の 原型s.

Each year I am fascinated by the 発明s that enter the James Dyson Award. It asks young engineers to 'design something that solves a problem' ? last year’s 勝利者, Dan Watson, won with an 発明 which can be 会社にする／組み込むd into fishing 逮捕するs to 許す young, unmarketable fish to escape.

It 行為／法令／行動するs like an illuminated 緊急 escape 調印する, 減ずるing the problems of over fishing. He is already trialling his 発明 with 政府 機関s and using his prize money to develop his 科学（工学）技術 その上の.

Keep schtum

広大な／多数の／重要な ideas are hard to keep secret, after you make a 打開, you will feel compelled to tell everyone about it.

But remember, once an idea is out in the public domain it becomes 事前の art ? it can’t be 特許d. Loose talk could give away the secrets to your 発明. If you need to 捜し出す advice you should always do it under a 非，不，無-公表，暴露 協定 ? this means the person receiving （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） can’t use or tell anyone else about your idea.