Development slow. Matt does not see where the project is going.
I am still figuring out how to get users. I still believe the key lies in how it looks. What is the look that I am after? I discussed this with a colleague (Lee) who has graphic design background. We concluded that, because the application was somewhere between a search engine and an online social network, it should give the impression of an ‘online social network that feels like a search engine’. Like me, he thinks that achieving a design that communicates this will make or break the site. Below are some screenshots of my design attempts for this month. This one attempts to mimic Google’s page layout:
Discovered that dropping title cases and some punctuation greatly improved the application’s appearance.
Advertising online in order to encourage someone to sign up. No luck so far.
Realised that I can have ‘midwife pages’. A user coming from, say Gumtree, lands on a ‘midwife page’ that pitches the application, specifically, to Gumtree users. It could only be accessed from a link on the Gumtree site.
The Subject Matter Application was due to expire. Had to decided whether to pursue the patent process or drop it altogether. Short history of advice:
Dec 2006 – bunch of PWC executives said ‘patent your idea’.
Mar 2007 – submit preliminary application which establishes priority.
Aug 2007 – bright technical bloke says ‘there’s nothing new in your idea’.
Feb 2008 – bright strategy consultant says ‘without the prospect of real revenue, even if the patent was valid, its worthless’.
I wrote to Keltie (my patent agents) asking them to confirm the costs of going ahead with the patent process. Here are some excerpts from their reply:
“Drafting costs of approximately GBP 9,000 (excluding VAT).”
“PCT filing costs of approximately GBP 3,000 (excluding VAT).”
“Filing of a US application from the PCT will be largely the same as a direct filing and will be approximately GBP 3,000 to GBP 4,000 including our service charge and our US associates fees, together with the official fees.”
“Unfortunately, it is not usually the case that patents go straight through to grant, and so it is very unlikely that no further costs would be involved.”
“Typically, each round of examination will cost approximately GBP 500 (for a very simple response) to GBP 4,000 (for a very complicated response incurring our time-based charges and a local US agent’s charges for reviewing and filing the response).”
“Typically, costs of GBP 1500 to GBP 2000 are not unusual for responding to a US Office Action, and one or two rounds of examination are not uncommon.”
“If you have not disclosed your concept, you may feel that it would be preferential to withdraw and re-file the UK application at minimal cost. However, if you have disclosed your concept out of confidence this option is not advisable.”
Matt thought £20K (rough total) was ‘insane’. Piers (strategy consultant) pointed out that the USA awards patents to ‘first-to-invent’ which means my original Subject Matter Application, with it’s early submission date, still counts as useful evidence in the USA. Michelle (Keltie) felt there had been insufficient public disclosure to void the patent and so I decided to re-file for approximately £400 – which gives me another year’s grace.