The episode, in writing
by Richard Lovatt · from the episode above, checked against what was said
Just a quick update on a few things that have happened today.
I think on a previous episode I spoke about applying to get the mobile app on the App Store. We hit some snags, we had a reply, X Y and Z were not filled in. I did send a simulated video of using it which I thought would be acceptable because there's an iOS simulator, but it was not, so I have to record that myself. Fair do's. There's a few functions that I had to add, something like blocking another account and stuff like that, but nothing that we can't do.
On top of that the patent attorney got back to me. Pretty good conversation, we spoke about the app thoroughly, the idea and how it would work, and some of the concerns he had. But after all of that he felt pretty good about it, and he also sounded a bit excited about it, which was a good sign. I don't know if he's doing that because he wants some money, but anyway, he gave me a bit of a range of quotes, and it went from still highly expensive up to very expensive. So we're going to see.
One thing he did do which I liked in terms of honesty is he did say you can file this patent application yourself, and they are a bit more lenient with you, not in terms of whether it passes or not, but more so in their language back to you, which was nice. And obviously that's a much cheaper option. For me it's not about how cheap it is, it's just about doing a good job, and speaking with professionals who think or know what could be passed or not, because I do want to protect myself.
I'm still so shocked really that I don't see that much competition doing something similar. Unless I'm missing it, but it's not coming up in those search terms and the keywords I'm looking at. The point is, I am not under the illusion that people won't try, and I'm not trying to pretend like this is the best idea in the world. But I still do think that people are going to try and copy this straight away, whether that's the technology behind it, whether that's how it looks and performs and functions, there's various ways.
There's obviously various ways I can protect myself. Starting with the trademark, which I've done and applied for, and that's coming back soon. You've got copyright, you've got sign rights you can protect yourself with, there's various ways of doing it. And then there's the patent, which can be hella expensive.
But I do think this tech and how it functions is something that is like a product in itself, and that it can be applied across different industries and things that I'm not aware of right now. I do think it has IP just in that. So when people do go, oh this is great, let's rip this off, let's run the same thing, they have to think twice at least. I'm not afraid of competition, I know that, I'm fully prepared to compete, all good. But I think it is unique in the sense of the idea. So we'll see about that.
That's an update I have, and we'll speak to you soon.