New Coin Cart Patent and Agreement

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: Dec. 29, 2000
Author/Local: D. Alexander/

323-7802

RTS No. 1826

CC File No. 1203

Council: January 23, 2001

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services

SUBJECT: New Coin Cart Patent and Agreement

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT the General Manager of Engineering Services, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services, be authorized to obtain a Patent for the new Coin Collection Cart.

B. THAT the General Manager of Engineering Services, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services, be authorized to enter into a marketing agreement with Cypress Solutions Inc.

C. THAT funding for the related legal and patent fees totaling approximately $15,000 be approved, from funds originally allocated to this project.

COUNCIL POLICY

There is no policy directly applicable to this initiative.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to provide Council with an update on the Coin Cart Project and to seek Council approval to proceed with a Patent application and Exploitation Agreement for potential revenue recovery.

DISCUSSION

In June, 1998 Council approved a project for the design and development of a new parking meter coin collection cart. The purposes of the new cart are to improve the security of the collection process, improve ergonomics, and provide a closed collection system. The new coin cart has been through the design and testing phases and is now in the final production stage.

As indicated in the original proposal there is some potential to recover our design and development costs through product sales to other Cities and Municipalities. The new cart is an innovative and unique product that satisfies the critical design criteria for coin security while addressing emerging ergonomic requirements. A comparable product is not currently available in the market place. A patent is required if we wish to secure our future interests in the product.

The design/build agreement with the successful bidder, Cypress Solutions Inc., included joint ownership of the intellectual property rights to the cart design. The patent process and any marketing strategy will, therefore, have to include them as co-applicants. Preliminary consultation with a patent lawyer has indicated that a patent application must be made prior to public introduction of the cart. In addition, once the patent application has been submitted an exploitation agreement will be required prior to marketing of the cart.

To our knowledge, this type of public/private venture has not previously been undertaken and Council approval is, therefore, required to proceed.

FUNDING IMPLICATIONS

The original report included funding for a forklift. It has now been determined that the new facilities for the combined Coin Collection and Parking Meter Maintenance operation will be included in the new Burlington Works Yard. The bulk loading demands of the new operation will be satisfied with equipment readily available in the yard, so the forklift will not be required. The estimated $15,000 required for legal and patent fees are available within the forklift funding provision.

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