My
worth…
Well, generally speaking, any “manufacturers’ representative” is merely a glorified sales agent, which can be an individual or someone that represents a sales agency or company. So, when a manufacturer hires a manufacturers rep or firm, this will usually mean that there is a contract between the two companies, which basically empowers the rep to sell the manufacturer’s product(s) as an agent…The products, in this case, the production and/or materials being Thermoset plastics/melamine. Your manufacturers’ rep usually orders directly from the manufacturer, who then pays a sales commission to the manufacturers rep or firm…Again, a glorified sales agent!
Regarding the issue of the NDA (non-disclosure agreement)…Since you obviously have a Provisional Patent Application (PPA) filed and claim “Patent Pending” status, while an NDA would provide some level of “protection” not yet afforded to you by the patent application, you could proceed without one. But, keep in mind, that without a granted patent or NDA, someone can still copy what you have disclosed to them and you would have few, if any legal arguments to stop them.
Since you do have a patent pending, and only if you fully expect that it will mature into a full fledged patent with reasonably broad claims that cover what you disclosed in the application, any potential infringer could be barred from selling their version of your product or be forced to pay you royalties after the patent is granted. For these reasons, if someone knows that you have a “patent pending,” they will usually avoid any impropriety.
You should also be very careful to not disclose any new, useful, or non-obvious improvements not disclosed in the provisional application. For such improvements, an NDA can be executed, or if necessary, you could file another patent application. Lastly, you should try and avoid showing anyone the actual patent application, unless there is a good reason to do so.
