Contact information is required to pitch a new business development
concept to the major on line auctions. My question is: I would like a
list with complete contact details of the key person(s) of the five
top  internet based auctions to whom a new idea could be introduced.
The new idea would lead to significant growth for the on line auction
house. A generous tip will be paid if the answer includes solid text
information on how a person should go about making such a contact
without revealing too much of their new brainchild. j_philipp-ga has
already made a partial answer to this question see: Question ID:
149779 for which I am grateful!

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 04 Feb 2003 19:06 PST

Hi -

I'm in the process of getting the information for you, and should have
an answer shortly.

Thanks,

jbf777-ga
GA Researcher

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 04 Feb 2003 19:22 PST

Hi -

I'm in the process of obtaining the contact names for the following
companies:

eBay
Company HQ Address
2145 Hamilton Ave.
San Jose, CA 95125 
Phone: 408-376-7400 
Fax: 408-376-7401

Yahoo!
Company HQ Address
701 First Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 
Phone: 408-349-3300 
Fax: 408-349-3301

uBid, Inc.
Company HQ Address
8550 W. Bryn Mawr Rd., Ste 200
Chicago, IL 60631 
Phone: 773-272-5000 
Fax: 773-272-4000

Sotheby's
Company HQ Address
1334 York Ave.
New York, NY 10021 
Phone: 212-606-7000 
Fax: 212-606-7107

Greg Manning Auctions
Company HQ Address
775 Passaic Ave.
West Caldwell, NJ 07006 
Phone: 973-882-0004 
Fax: 973-882-3499


I'd like to assist you in the area of divulging your idea, but I need
a little more information.  What kind of innovation is it? 
Software/hardware?  On a very surface level, can you give me an idea
what it is it does?

Thank you,

jbf777-ga
GA Researcher

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Clarification of Question by brudenell-ga on 05 Feb 2003 04:46 PST

Hello jbf777

Thank you for your interest in this question. Unfortunately I should
not disclose anything specific or even general here on the web. It
will be tough enough to protect this innovation by a non-disclosure
agreement etc. With this opportunity to clarify I should specify that
the major/ top on line auctions that I'm interested in are those that
serve the mass market as opposed to those with defined areas of
interest.

Regards

Brudenell

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 05 Feb 2003 08:26 PST

Thanks for your clarification.

With regard to online auctions for the mass market, there's literally
"eBay" and then "everyone else" -- in terms of traffic.  Yahoo and
Amazon are the only other fairly large players.

Would any of these sites suffice as replacements for Greg Manning
Auctions and Sotheby's?

http://www.bidz.com
http://www.listings-plus.com/

If not, can you give me 2 additional auction sites you'd be intersted
in pursuing?


jbf777-ga
GA Researcher

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Clarification of Question by brudenell-ga on 05 Feb 2003 11:11 PST

Good Afternoon jbf777

I will accept the two that you have proposed.

Thank you

Brudenell

IMPORTANT -- PLEASE READ
This answer is not finished until you're satisfied with it.  If you
choose to rate this answer, please do so *after* giving me the chance
to make it satisfactory to you.  Thank you for your understanding.

1. eBay 
   Mark Peattie 
   Admin of Business Development
   2145 Hamilton Ave. 
   San Jose, CA 95125  
   Phone: 408-376-7400  
   Fax: 408-376-7401 
   Instructions: When calling, ask to be transferred to him.

2. Yahoo! 
   Jenny Drummond 
   Assistant to VP of Corporate Development
   701 First Ave. 
   Sunnyvale, CA 94089  
   Phone: 408-349-3300  
   Fax: 408-349-3301 
   Instructions: You will have to email your idea to 
   djenny@yahoo-inc.com; you can't actually talk to anyone
   directly, per their policy; call and ask to be transferred 
   to her to find out more about this.
 
3. uBid, Inc. 
   Brian Vandenberg
   VP of Corporate Development
   8550 W. Bryn Mawr Rd., Ste 200 
   Chicago, IL 60631  
   Phone: 773-272-5000  
   Fax: 773-272-4000 
   Instructions: When calling, ask to be transferred to him.

4. Bidz.com, Inc.
   Igor Krakovsky
   Direct of Business Development
   3562 Eastham Drive
   Culver City, CA 90232
   Phone: (310) 280-7373
   Fax: (310) 280-7377
   igor@bidz.com
   Instructions: When calling, ask to be transferred to him.

5. Listings Plus
   webmaster@listings-plus.com
   Instructions: Direct your email to Brandon.
   Wouldn't disclose phone number.  
   
----

Before you do anything with your idea, you need to file for a
"provisional application for patent" ["provisional patent"] with the
US Patent and Trademark office [USPTO].  This is an inexpensive way of
obtaining some protection for your idea. A provisional application for
patent is a U.S. national application for patent filed in the USPTO
under 35 U.S.C. §111(b). It allows filing without a formal patent
claim, oath or declaration, or any information disclosure (prior art)
statement. It provides the means to establish an early effective
filing date in a non-provisional patent application filed under 35
U.S.C. §111(a). It also allows the term "Patent Pending" to be
applied.  I would use this term up front in your discussion so the
company knows you "mean business" about protecting your idea. Read
more at about.com: http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa061701a.htm

Some companies, such as Yamaha, won't entertain an idea unless you own
an actual patent on it.  A provisional patent is not an actual patent.
 It just gives you a years time to FILE for an actual patent, which is
something you will definitely want to do.  The provisional patent
gives you the ability to shop your idea round for a year and assess
its commercial potential without having to potentially wait years for
your actual patent, or paying the full patent application fee up
front.

Visit the USPTO at www.uspto.gov to find more information about
applying.  Visit this link at the USPTO web site to see more
information about provisional patents:
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa061701a.htm.

Without knowing the specifics of your idea, it's difficult for me to
provide concise direction on what to disclose and what not to
disclose.  In general, you want to divulge the absolute minimum of
descriptive information necessary to convey the idea.  However, in
order to pitch the concept successfully, you can't be too evasive, or
else the company won't know what it is you're doing or selling.  First
you need to find out if they're even interested in pursuing an idea in
the general field or category your idea is in.  They might have
specific budget allocations for implementing new ideas on a
per-category basis.  You need to feel them out with regard to their
interest level and capabilities for pursuing ideas in the area of
interest your idea is in.
 
Start "outside the circle," and make your way in -- being very careful
to maintain a professional tone without seeming too reticent.  Keep
the conversation as abstract as possible.  Something which will
definitely add to your professionalism would be to call as a
representive for a company.  I would definitely establish a DBA for
your own company, and call as a representative of it.  With a company,
you have a means of a more professional-sounding scapegoat if you
can't disclose something: "I'm sorry, but my company's policy limits
my disclosure for that area of the project" vs. "I'm sorry, I can't
disclose that."  It has much more of a business-to-business [B2B]
feel, which in general puts you more on peer with who you're dealing
with.

Companies may have established policies in dealing with outside
intellectual property.  Ask them up front what their policies are
regarding it.  Try pursuing a non-disclosure agreement if you can.

Your other option is to hire a third-party company to pitch your idea
for you.
Be very careful with these, however.  Make sure you check into each
company's history and effectiveness before shelling out any cash for
their services.

Here are some relevant links with regard to promotion companies:

Lambert and Lambert [claims to be listed with the BBB on their web
site]
http://www.lambertinvent.com/faqs.htm

Marti Elder LLC
http://www.eldermart.net/

BBB
http://www.bbb.org/library/prom.asp

ISC Invention Submission
http://www.isc-online.com/

FTC - Invention Promotion Firms
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/services/invent.htm

Invention Promotion industry articles
http://www.uiausa.com/IPIndustry.htm

Non Disclosure Agreements at About.com
http://inventors.about.com/cs/nondisclosure/


Check out these additional resources on disclosing your idea:

Beware: Confidentiality Agreements Are Far from Ironclad
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/news/coladvice/ask/sa990922.htm

Inventor's Guide
http://www.inventorsforum.org/InventorsGuide.html

Dreams to Market - FAQ about inventing
http://www.dreamstomarket.com/guides_faq.asp

The Risks of Sharing Your Idea   
By Judith Silver (May 13, 2002)
http://www.entrepreneur.com/Your_Business/YB_SegArticle/0,4621,299617,00.html

Mindtek Intellectual Properties
http://www.mindtek.com/

License Your Invention book
http://www.greatideagear.com/license.your.invention.html
   
Personal Innovation System
http://www.zpatents.com/pay2.htm

Access 2000 -Tips on Promotion Firms
http://www.access2000.com.au/Guides/Tips/Small_Business_Tips/small_business_tips_34.htm
   
Search Strategy:
Hoovers.com business directory
Google: "disclosing your idea"
        "provisional patents"
        "invention promotion"
        "invention agent"

THANKS. This information was helpful.

When contacting people with stuff like this you are
going to 'want' them to sign an NDA, non-disclosure
agreement, and also maybe a non-compete.
They are available on the net.  Now the bad news,
many/most big companies won't do that because
they can't - they will not preclude themselves from
future inventions or ideas from other parties just to
get a look at yours.  In Dallas one of the big telecoms
tells people 'not only will we not sign, we guarantee
what we will tell everyone what you give us.'  Their
message is 'before you ask, the answer is NO!'
That being said, consult an impartial, trusted friend
to look over the idea, then think/consult as to whether
there is real IP - intellectual property that could be
proected either via a patent or otherwise.
Good luck, and I have tried to give ideas to big
companies, always with little luck.