Have you ever patented something?

Absolutely, if you believe that this can be profitable, you have no other protection than a patent. It is expensive and a lengthy process, though. Be prepared for that.

On the other hand, you can get the ball rollin', as well as the patent process. I wouldn't worry about the patent until I knew that someone would buy it. Good luck.

What I think I know:
If it is made out of "one" piece of plastic then it falls under the design patent. Which is cheaper and easier to work with. $10k min to get up and running. Once you go public with your idea you have legally 1 year to bring it to market (with a patent I should say). After that it is fair game. If anyone helped you in the idea they must be listed as co creator's no matter how small of the input. Good luck.

If you believe that the product is really revolutionary make sure you establish a crazy marketing campaign for it so that you can get the most out of your one year free of competition. You may want to look into getting some investors.

One true thing, you do not need a lawyer.
You can even file online in about an hour for usually under $500 (that goes directly to patent fees.)

Dot your i's and cross your ts. Once you file, even though the process takes around a year if you hit any glitches at all (and seems like you always do) that info becomes public. If you miss something or leave a door open, someone will find the opening and exploit it. If the corporation that does that messes up... even a little, you can become rich by suing them later; BUT they have to have made a mistake.

Example: alternating wiper inventor messes up the application (with a lawyer) and Ford found several openings and filed several patents that while they used the basis of the original inventor's idea, were just different enough to qualify. The original inventor sued and lost. Died broke and broken. Effected the whole family. It was a mess. In his case having a lawyer didn't help him. The patents I have seen usually involve several related patents to close those holes and/or processors.

It is a messy business. If I had an idea, I think I would sell it. But that is me.

I had a similar idea a couple of years ago. (a cheap and simple mechanism made of plastic). At the time I spoke with some really smart entrepreneurs who worked at my university. He pointed out to me that even though the profit margin of my invention could be large in proportion to the cost it still was not a substantial amount of money. say it takes 20 cents to produce and can be sold for 60 cents to retailers. thats a 200% profit margin, but 40 cents per item sold was not enough to cover all the startup costs... so you should consider that in your decision, I don't know how much profits your idea will make.

About the process of going directly to manufacturers and somehow work a royalties deal... could you tell me some more about that or where you read about it?

I want to know because I had another and didn't decide to really look into it until a couple of years later, I was only like 17 at the time I first had the idea. 2 or 3 years later I spoke with a venture capitalist in my university and he actually liked the idea, we did a patent search and turns out Black and Decker had just patented the same idea lol

Check this book at Amazon: Nolo's Patents for Beginners

Nolo is a big legal publisher and has several books on the topic. Patents are complicated. We secured a process patent a few years ago - which is not easy to do.

As far as going to a manufacturer with an idea, that's the last thing I would do... if you have no protection, it is too easy to steal your idea.

Some of what was discussed above is the concept of a "provisional patent" - look it up in the books. It is what lets you "get started" without a full final patent application.

But as was suggested above, consult with a lawyer. It is expensive (believe me) but it is worth it. Yes, you can do it yourself, but that doesn't mean you should... if you really think you can make millions, get a lawyer. If you can't afford one, get a partner who can pay for the patent protection.

I had an idea for a plastic product 6 months ago, and went through the ardous process you may be going through right now. After going through lawyers (I think 5 or 6), I did realize that:

1. Going full-swing for a patent will vacuum your bank account, and this is before you even know whether your product is something the consumer even wants or needs.

2. I ended up not bothering about the idea protection after all. But if you still want to do so, then better off go for the "provisional patent". More info on this link :

Provisional Application for Patent

It'll be waaaaay cheaper, which will still protect your idea, and you will have upto a year to either apply for a full potent or forfeit.

3. Many prototype designers, developers and manufacturers will tell you that, "eigh, I have seen this idea before, or somewhat similar, so what makes you think this will sell". So you better stick your foot on the ground, and if you believe in your product the better.

4. This one will be hard to swallow. But its the truth. **Local prototype designers, developers and manufacturers are way too expensive to hire for tasks. And by local I mean within the US**. I got quotes ranging from $3000 -- $12000, just for a 7 x 2 x 2 product.

I eventually did use a manufacturer in China to build the prototype for a fraction of that. It costed me less than $500 to do the same. It was not the best thing yet, but a prototype simply should test the workability, form, fitness, design of the product. Its the first version of the idea that only exists in your head to something tangible -- so that gets the job done. But everyone does it differently.

5. You gotta believe in your product. It doesn't matter how simple it is or how *stupid* it seems. Check the following for simple product that made millions.

If you belive in your idea and that it is genuinely based on innovation and brings up something new - YOU MUST GO FOR A PATENT. Yes, it may be a little expensive - but once you get a patent you'd realise that it was just peanuts.

Getting a patent means that you have been recognised for bringing up something that world didn't know earlier - It also means that alot of biggies will be interested to purchase your patent - atleast they'll invite you for a coffee.....

And I am telling you selling a patent to an established company can be profitable like hell!

If the folks on this thread only knew who they were talking to about inventions and new product development...

Please listen to Bill.

The end.

Best,

Brian