Idea Submission

Blue Highway regularly receives letters and phone calls from people who have an idea for a new product, or a way to improve a current product. We hold inventiveness in high regard and sincerely appreciate this interest in our company.

Only rarely, however, will an idea submitted from outside Blue Highway be new to us, and practical for our use. Our many engineers and researchers work continually on product innovation and enhancement. Given their training, and their access to prior patents, industry publications and other sources of information, it is unlikely that our technical and scientific employees have not previously considered an idea that someone external to the company might also come up with. Most of the time, an outside idea is one already known and available to us, and perhaps already under development.

Blue Highway will review unsolicited ideas, but only subject to the terms of our Submission Policy, which is set out below. We have implemented this policy both to protect our intellectual property and other rights, and to prevent misunderstandings between us and outside inventors. We ask that you read the Policy carefully before deciding to submit your idea to Blue Highway. You will be required to consent to the terms and conditions of our Submission Agreement if you choose to proceed. Please be sure you fully understand the Policy and accept the terms and conditions of the Agreement before signing electronically, communicating your assent.

Submission Policy

Blue Highway will consider only ideas that relate to new or improved products or manufacturing methods that can be patented.

Blue Highway will consider ideas only on a non-confidential basis. By submitting your idea, you neither assume a confidential relationship with us nor receive a guarantee of secrecy from us. The business risks associated with confidential relationships and obligations of secrecy are too great for the company to enter into them for the purpose of preliminary evaluation of unsolicited ideas. This is especially true where we may already have conceived and considered an idea similar to yours. In that case, we might be unable to use our own idea if we agree to keep yours secret, and we cannot risk such restriction of our own research and development.

Moreover, no idea will be evaluated on the condition that, prior to your submitting it, the company consummate an agreement setting forth a basis of compensation for its use. Blue Highway will only consider remuneration post-submission, either in the course of negotiating a license agreement or in the course of bestowing a discretionary award.

We prefer that you protect your interest in your idea before submitting it to us. Protection is important because, by disclosing your idea to us, you may lose your proprietary rights in the information. We suggest you contact the United States Patent and Trademark Office (or the patent office in your country), or consult your attorney. Blue Highway employees are not authorized to advise you in this regard, or offer you an opinion on the patentability of your idea.

In submitting your idea to Blue Highway, you are not giving the company any rights under any patent you may have or may obtain in the future. In addition, you are free to submit to other companies the same idea you submit to Blue Highway.

Except for information validly protected under patent law, Blue Highway shall have the unrestricted right to use and disclose any submitted ideas and materials.

If, after our initial evaluation, Blue Highway is interested in learning more about your idea and you deem the requested additional information confidential, we will consider accepting the disclosure of such information under a written confidentiality agreement. The likelihood that such an agreement will be required, however, is quite remote. Most of the time, Blue Highway will be able to assess its interest in a submitted idea solely on the basis of non-confidential information.

We shall endeavor to inform you of the results of our assessment whenever practicable. For confidentiality reasons, we cannot reveal why your submission is or is not of interest to us, or divulge the nature or extent of our evaluation. Under no circumstances will Blue Highway disclose its own research and development, whether current or completed, covered by patent application or otherwise.

From time to time we may receive a large volume of unsolicited ideas, limiting our ability to respond to each and every submission. If you do not hear from us within a reasonable period of time, you should assume that your idea was already known to us, or not of interest. Please do not call or email to inquire on the status of your idea.

All ideas must be submitted electronically.

If you do not submit your idea in accordance with the Policy and subject to the terms and conditions of the Agreement, any documents and materials you send Blue Highway will be discarded.

To submit your idea, make sure you fully understand the Policy and accept the terms and conditions of the Submission Agreement. You should keep a copy of the Agreement for your records. If you make any changes to the Submission Agreement, your idea will not be evaluated.

We prefer that you limit your submission to the written description and a drawing. If the description is sufficient to explain to an engineer what the idea is, how it works, and why, as an invention, it is new or better, and if the drawing is clearly illustrative, then supplementary materials are generally unnecessary.

Blue Highway will not return to you any information or materials that you submit. Please do not send anything that you wish to have returned.

If you properly submitted your idea pursuant to this policy, Blue Highway will confirm receipt of your submission via letter or email.

Blue Highway will not consider ideas associated with advertising, promotions, or marketing. Submissions falling within these and related categories will be destroyed.

Submission Agreement

I am submitting with this Agreement information for review by Blue Highway, LLC (Blue Highway). I have read the Blue Highway's Idea Submission Policy and I understand its contents.

I agree that this submission is received by Blue Highway under the following conditions:

1. No confidential relationship or other obligation of any kind is created or implied by the receipt or consideration by Blue Highway of this submission.
2. Blue Highway has the unrestricted right to use and disclose any information received from me comprising or concerning this submission without compensation to me, except to the extent that such information is validly protected under the patent laws of the United States or foreign countries.
3. This Agreement binds all parties who lawfully succeed to any of my rights in this submission.
4. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between Blue Highway and me pertaining to this submission and it overrides any prior understanding that I may have had regarding this submission. To be effective, any modification to this Agreement must be approved in writing by an officer of Blue Highway.
5. The validity, interpretation, and legal effect of this Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of New York, even if I reside in a different state or country.
6. Also, I certify that:
   a. I own and have the right to disclose this information to Blue Highway.
   b. I have read this Agreement and understand it.
   c. I am at least twenty one (21) years of age, or have obtained the signature of my parent or guardian below, confirming his/her acceptance of this Agreement on my behalf.