New Product Submission:
Version - Compensation Expected
Thanks for your interest in submitting a new product idea to humangear. humangear does all
of it’s own design, but we are open to working with product developers and inventors who have
credible products that fit our brand.
This document walks you through the information we need from you to adequately review your
idea and see if it’s a fit for humangear. There are two sections:
Section 1: Terms and Conditions
Section 2: Product Submission
Please fill this document out completely to provide us with an acceptable submission. We
cannot review submissions that aren’t completely filled out.
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 1/13
Section 1:
humangear Product Idea Submission Agreement
(Version: Compensation expected)
Thank you for considering the submission of your product idea to humangear, inc.
(“humangear”). Before deciding whether to submit a product idea, please review and agree to
the Product Idea Submission Agreement Terms and Conditions set forth in this document.
Any idea submission will be bound by these terms.
Background
humangear is a product design company that has developed a variety of innovative
consumer products. Although we are always happy to consider adding products that
complement our current product line, we are continuously working on new products and our
resources for developing 3rd party product ideas are very limited. Given our constraints, we
are primarily interested in reviewing products ideas that have been designed & engineered to a
level close to being production-ready. Moreover, reviewing outside product submissions can
get complicated if a company is already working on a similar concept – this is one of the
reasons why many companies don’t want to even speak with outside product developers or
inventors, much less review their ideas.
While we are happy to review product ideas, we believe it is important that you understand
how your submission will be treated. Therefore, for your protection as well as our own, there
are a number of conditions you need to understand and agree to for us to review your
submission.
Non-Confidentiality
Do not submit confidential information. As a product design company, humangear
cannot promise to review product idea submissions in confidence. If you would like to keep
your materials confidential, please do not send them to us.
Is Compensation Expected?
Sometimes our customers have ideas for products that they would like to see
developed, and don’t expect compensation for the idea if humangear decides to develop that
idea or a similar product concept further (other than our undying gratitude and maybe some
free humangear stuff as a token of thanks). Others would like us to develop a product they
have invented and expect to receive compensation for that product. We expect a higher level
of development for a product submission that is seeking compensation. If your product idea is
more fully developed and compensation is expected for your product design, you’re reading
the right form. Alternatively, if you don’t expect any compensation for your idea and just want
to see it brought into the world for all to enjoy please read and agree to our Product Design
Submission Agreement – No Compensation Expected form to submit your product design.
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 2/13
Intellectual Property Protection for your Idea
You should be aware that under the laws of the United States and most foreign
countries, you may be able to protect your idea through application for patents, trademarks,
copyrights or may maintain an idea as a trade secret by protecting it from non-confidential
disclosure. If you hope to be compensated for your idea, humangear strongly encourages you
to take measures to protect your idea before submitting your idea for evaluation. Since our
review of product ideas is on a non-confidential basis, there is a risk that submitting an idea to
us will jeopardize your ability to later obtain a patent or other intellectual property protection for
your idea(s).
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible to submit a product idea to humangear, you must be at least 18 years old
and you must own the product idea that you are submitting. In other words, the idea must be
your own original creation and you must own that original creation. You cannot submit the
idea of another person or party.
Often, employers will require an employee to sign an employment contract. Some
conditions of this contract may be that the company will own ideas related to their business.
Please determine whether your employer owns the product idea you that are submitting.
humangear cannot accept ideas that are in violation of an agreement or understanding with
another party, such as your current or former employer.
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 3/13
humangear PRODUCT IDEA SUBMISSION AGREEMENT
COMPENSATION EXPECTED – TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1) I understand that humangear is under no obligation to hold my idea(s) in confidence or treat
any of the information I submit as confidential information. (This is to make sure you
understand that an idea submitted to a company like humangear is not a confidential
submission and could therefore jeopardize potential trade secret or patent rights you may
have in the idea. It also allows us to freely discuss ideas we are considering adopting with
third party suppliers and designers).
2) I am the owner of the idea(s) I am submitting to humangear. (It is important that you only
submit your own ideas since the ideas of others may be subject to intellectual property rights
that neither you or we are aware of).
3) I am not violating any agreement or understanding I have with another party, including my
current or former employer. (We don’t want you to get into trouble with your current
employer).
4) I am aware that under the law of the United States and most foreign countries, I may be able
to protect my idea(s) through application for patents, trademarks, copyrights, or may
maintain my idea as a trade secret by protecting it from non-confidential disclosure. (If you
have a great idea, consider patent or other IP protection for the idea).
5) I hereby give humangear permission to evaluate, discuss, disclose, develop prototypes
and/or otherwise use my idea in any manner except commercially producing the idea
without any expectation of compensation. (Compensation only if we make it, basically.)
6) In the event that humangear becomes interested in the possibility of commercially pursuing
a product design that I have submitted, I agree to negotiate an appropriate licensing
agreement (and if mutually desired, an appropriate Product Development Agreement) in
good faith. (Let’s make a deal.)
7) I will not be compensated for ideas developed by humangear independent of the design(s) I
submit to humangear. (Your ideas are yours. Our ideas are ours. Ok?)
8) I understand that humangear is in the product design business, so there is always a
possibility that they are currently developing, or in the future may develop, products
somewhat similar to the product idea(s) and/or design(s) that I am submitting. To the extent
that I believe there is similarity, I agree that any claims I may have against humangear will
be limited to patent infringement claims. (See #4 above.)
9) I understand that humangear is under no obligation to use my idea and is under no
obligation to return the materials that I am submitting to me. (Sorry, although there are
many good ideas, we can’t pursue them all).
10) I am at least 18 years old. (Although we know that some of the best ideas come from
minors – the laws put limits on their ability to convey their rights).
11) The information I am submitting to humangear is true and correct. (Liar, liar pants on fire!)
12) I agree to follow humangear’s Idea Submission Rules
I have read and understand these Terms and Conditions and agree to be bound by such terms
and conditions when I submit my Product Design idea to humangear. I acknowledge that these
Terms and Conditions will exclusively govern the relationship between humangear and myself.
________________________________________ [Signature]
________________________________________ [Printed name]
___________________________ [Date]
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 4/13
Section 2: New Product Submission
Please go through this quick checklist:
1) Is your product idea a simple outdoor (camping,
hiking, etc.), travel, storage, or personal-care/lifestyle
accessory?
YES
NO
2) Can your product realistically be sold in a store like
REI, a luggage store, or a retailer like Container Store
or Bed Bath & Beyond?
YES
NO
3) Does your idea work without batteries or electrical
power (if it uses batteries or needs to plug into an
outlet, the answer is “No”)?
YES
NO
4) Is your product idea a smart improvement to an
existing product, or a simple new product? (For
example, a complex new kind of fuel-cell-powered
cooking stove, is a “NO”; a better camping plate or
utensil is a “YES”).
YES
NO
YES
NO
5) I have read, understood and agree to the Terms
and Conditions of the “humangear PRODUCT IDEA
SUBMISSION AGREEMENT- COMPENSATION
EXPECTED” (see previous page)
If you answered “NO” to any of the above questions, please do *not*
submit your idea to humangear. We can only review and respond to
ideas that are able to answer “YES” to all the above questions.
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 5/13
Inventor Information:
First Name:
Last Name:
Street Address:
City
State:
Zip Code:
Country:
Daytime Phone:
Evening Phone:
Email address:
What Type of Product are you submitting for review?
(circle or underline)
-
Hydration product
-
Camping
-
Cookware
-
Hiking
-
Travel
-
Storage
-
Personal care
-
Lifestyle accessory
- Other outdoor/travel/personal care/lifestyle (please specify below)
_______________________
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 6/13
One sentence product need statement:
In a single sentence, describe the need your product addresses. This is not a
description of what the product does or how it works, but explains the specific
unmet need that your product fills. Your answer should fit in the box below:
One sentence product benefit statement:
In a single sentence, describe the primary benefit of your product. This is not a
description of what the product does or how it works, but explains the key benefit
your product delivers to the user. Your answer should fit in the box below:
One sentence target market statement:
In a single sentence, describe the target market of your product. Who is the
person, or class of persons, that are mostly likely to buy, use, and benefit from
your product? Your answer should fit in the box below:
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 7/13
Complete Product Description:
Please describe your idea in complete detail. Tell us how it works, what it’s made
from, the various features, and any other information you think we should know.
You should be able to do this on this page alone but if you need to submit
additional pages you can do so. Note that there is a separate section on
competitive products, so you don’t need to spend a lot of time on that here.
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 8/13
Do you have sketches of your product idea?
YES
NO
Do you have computer models or renderings of your
product idea?
YES
NO
Do you have a “works-like” or functional prototype of
your product idea?
YES
NO
Do you have a “looks-like” or appearance model of your
product idea?
YES
NO
Is this solely your invention (if others were involved the
answer is “No”)?
YES
NO
Have you conducted an informal patent search
(for example, using an internet patent search site like
Google Patents)?
YES
NO
Have you had a formal patent search done by a
professional patent attorney or patent agent?
YES
NO
Is your invention patent-pending (have you applied for a
Regular Patent, or Provisional Patent)?
YES
NO
Has a patent been issued on your invention?
If yes, what is the patent number(s)?
YES
NO
YES
NO
__Pat. #:_____________
Do you have a website that has more info about your
product idea?
If yes, what is the web address?
___URL:______
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 9/13
Images
Please insert digital pictures of any sketches, renderings, or physical prototypes
you think we should know about. You must have at least some sketches.
Computer renderings are better than sketches, and a physical model or prototype
(even a very crude one) is best of all. You can insert your images in the space
below, or attached them in extra pages at the end of this document.
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 10/13
Competitive Products:
Please tell us about the products that compete with yours. We ask that you do a
basic web search using Google (http://www.google.com/products) and share with
us the top results. You can write a brief description, but ideally you can just paste
web links to competing products. If you can paste in or attach digital images
(again, easily gotten on the web) of the competitives, that’s also helpful.
General Competitive Summary:
Why is your product better than what’s already on the market?
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 11/13
What search terms did you use to conduct your competitive web research?
Please list weblinks to the top competitive products:
Weblink
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Product
Page 12/13
Basic web patent search:
Please do a basic Internet patent search on your product. Go to
http://www.google.com/patents and type in reasonable search terms as if you
were searching for information about your product on a standard web search. For
example, if your product idea were a better folding camp stool, you’d use search
terms like “folding camp stool,” “folding chair,” “portable seat” etc. You will
typically get many results that you can click through. Note that each patent result
has a “Prior Art” button that will lead you to other patents related to the one you
selected originally. We find that many “new” inventions have already been
invented before. This does not mean your product can’t be made into a
successful item, but it is important to know about these prior patents. If you’ve
had a formal patent search done by a professional, please attach the results of
that search to your submission.
Please list the search terms you used in conducting your Google patent search
Please list the links to any relevant patents you found:
© 2015 humangear, inc
All rights reserved worldwide. Other company names and products are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 13/13