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an inventor who's betraying his investors

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mikewax

Member
What is the name of your state?CA
hello,
i work with an inventor who's attempting to market his invention. he contracted me to do the design, which is now finished, with his approval. however, after he gave his approval, i thought of a way to significantly improve the design, so i edited the CAD files and sent him the revised design, which is significantly cheaper to produce and significantly higher quality than the original, indisputably so, and he knows it. but he flatly refuses to accept the newer design, saying he will proceed with the inferior version. and he offers no coherent explanation for his choice.
the reason i'm asking this question is that i have a financial stake in the sale of the product, and so do other investors. he is clearly betraying us, clearly sabotaging the product. no commitments have yet been made toward the production process.
my question is, is he legally betraying us? is he breaking a contract?
he and i have two separate contracts between us. one is an NDA meaning that i can't talk about the product to 3rd parties. the other is a profit sharing contract which gives me 5% of the sales profit. neither contract stipulates anything about design decisions, or who actually makes those decisions. the later contract simply says "Representative [me] must provide a working marketable finished product."
i don't know anything about other agreements he has made with the other investors. i do know that he doesn't have money. virtually the entire budget will be provided by his investors.
thanx to anyone who can help.
mike
 


quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state?CA
hello,
i work with an inventor who's attempting to market his invention. he contracted me to do the design, which is now finished, with his approval. however, after he gave his approval, i thought of a way to significantly improve the design, so i edited the CAD files and sent him the revised design, which is significantly cheaper to produce and significantly higher quality than the original, indisputably so, and he knows it. but he flatly refuses to accept the newer design, saying he will proceed with the inferior version. and he offers no coherent explanation for his choice.
the reason i'm asking this question is that i have a financial stake in the sale of the product, and so do other investors. he is clearly betraying us, clearly sabotaging the product. no commitments have yet been made toward the production process.
my question is, is he legally betraying us? is he breaking a contract?
he and i have two separate contracts between us. one is an NDA meaning that i can't talk about the product to 3rd parties. the other is a profit sharing contract which gives me 5% of the sales profit. neither contract stipulates anything about design decisions, or who actually makes those decisions. the later contract simply says "Representative [me] must provide a working marketable finished product."
i don't know anything about other agreements he has made with the other investors. i do know that he doesn't have money. virtually the entire budget will be provided by his investors.
thanx to anyone who can help.
mike
If the inventor contracted for the design and prefers the original design over your revised version, all you can do is make your reasons known to the inventor why you think the revised version is better.

You can speak to an IP attorney in your area and have the contracts you signed, and the facts of your arrangement with the inventor reviewed, to better see if you have other options to consider. Anything disclosed to your attorney remains confidential.

As a note: It helps members of this forum if posters keep all of their related questions to a single thread.
 
Last edited:

mikewax

Member
If the inventor contracted for the design and prefers the original design over your revised version, all you can do is make your reasons known to the inventor why you think the revised version is better.

You can speak to an IP attorney in your area and have the contracts you signed, and the facts of your arrangement with the inventor reviewed, to better see if you have other options to consider. Anything disclosed to your attorney remains confidential.

As a note: It helps members of this forum if posters keep all of their related questions to a single thread.
ok thanx again for the assistance :)
 

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