Google Patent Information. Try to make sure someone hasn't beaten you to it (very likely) and already has a Patent on the item. If it's a small item, consider having 3D modeling done - there are lot's of services on the internet.
thanks for all of the replies. I've done a patent search. There were none like mine. The site I went to I checked out before I went. There wer no complaints filed against it. The agent there wants me to make a drawing online and I don't know how to do it free hand. I got an immediate call back when I submitted my idea but that many be standard procedure. It seems like he is trying to rush me and I'm slower than cold molasses. I only want to make about 10 k. Then I'll have enough to patent some of my other inventions. I've got a million of them. Thanks again.
Why do you want to make a sketch online? The first thing I need to know is if this is just an idea at this point? Sorry, I missed your post above. Just now reading... Absolutely.
If you are talking with some invention company, forget it. If you want patent protection you go to a patent lawyer. Be prepared to spend about $15K Ideas cannot be patented [ with very rare exception]. You have to have a device.
Many times, a patent is a waste of time. What kind of product are we talking about? I know you don't want to give away your secrets [although you apparently already did with some company online?] But what can you tell me? Did they sign non-disclosure and promise not to compete statements first?
Who are the target customers What would be the approximate retail price? Why would someone want to buy it?
i don't know the price yet but pronably about 40 dollars. ir's a plumbing device. old people would like it and helps you to keep from bitten by spiders.
I've had a tumble drier idea which freshens clothes as well as dries them. Never told anyone about it. Maybe I should do some research and take it from there.
lol... Sorry, just a reaction. Sure, maybe they are, just the way how I read it - the way you followed it up like that 'And a good percentage of those are scams.' made me lol.
Many times, for products like this, it is easiest to just start making them and selling them. Patents only require a 10% change to avoid the patent. So unless you have some definitive design feature that can't easily be worked around, a patent probably wouldn't do you any good. You don't need a patent to just start selling a product. If you really have something unique in design, then it comes down to the potential for sales and the cost of patents and ramping up production. Either way it takes a lot of money. You can always try to get investors but then need patent protection. Otherwise you can go to a bank and lay out a business plan. They may be willing to provide financing. One time I had an idea, way back before cell phones were common, for a play phone that records messages from relatives for playback. The idea was that a kid could dial 2 and hear grandma. Dial 3 for grandpa, etc. I talked with Radio Shack about getting it into their stores. I had to have something like 10,000 units ready for sale A YEAR before they hit the shelves. My little play phone idea was going to cost about $100K before I even started selling anything. And that assumed I had a finished product ready to go. So it can be quite daunting to break into a market like that. When it comes to novel ideas like this, it is all about the money... and RISK! BTW, you really need a non-disclosure and a promise not to compete.
For many years I kept an eye on something called The Inventors Workshop. It had been around a long time and promised to help new inventors become successful. I almost joined several times but then hesitated. I think the cost was something like $100 for starters. One day by chance, I met the man who started it. We had a mutual friend. I was shocked when they told me who he was. So I asked him for a history of successful inventors they could list. There were none.
I used to know a guy who would finance ventures like this; no questions asked. All you had to do was sign over everything you own, if you don't succeed. I decided to pass. His attitude was, if you're serious, you will take the risk. If not, then why should he take a risk on you?
Sorry, that was a misstatement. You can get a non-disclosure and promise not to compete. But the problem is enforcement of these or patents. Can you afford to sue someone and spend years in court? That is the Catch-22. Even if you have a patent and someone violates it, you have to catch them; you have to be able to prove your claim., and you have to pay lawyers to go after your money. The guy who invented the socket lock for ratchets [ the button you push to release the little ball bearing holding the socket], worked for Sears when he invented it. They fought over the patent for decades. Long after he was dead the family was still fighting it.