AIRASSAULT
PMA Member
Just wondering if anyone here has experience with patenting an idea and how you went about getting a patent and how you devoloped an idea and actually created it.. Who do you trust with your idea?
Idea---> Patent---> Production ???
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bigbuckhunter88
PMA Member
I've always wondered the same thing, but never had any ideas clever enough to patent. A good person to ask, and maybe even pm him to alert him of this thread would be Todd from WKP. With his saw and other products he works on it would be nice to hear from him.
jesserichard
New Member
Get a hold of a patent lawyer and they will look and see if theres anything like it out there and where you can go from there.
AIRASSAULT
PMA Member
dayum... it's a pretty high risk then I suppose... $12000 seems pretty steep.. guess I'll have to wait until I get a really "good" idea.
Highmark
PMA Member
I'm in product design and manufacturing and happen to hold 4 patents and have 3 more that have been applied for.
What others have said is true. First contact a reputable patent firm and discuss it with them. You can easily do some research prior to the meeting as the fed govt has an excellent patent seach website and there are other sites that link into this like Google Patents. Look your idea in every way you can think because someone may already have something done.
Typically the patent firm will do some research and let you know if they think the idea has a chance to be awarded a patent. Then the patent itself will need to be written. This is the tricky part and where good attorney's really are worth their weight in gold. Good firms will be able to do the artwork and drawings and write the entire patent. Just make sure they keep the claims as general or broad as possible. The more you "define" the idea in the claims the easier it will be for someone to design around. The research and writing of the patent can run anywhere from $1000-$10,000 pending the complexity of the patent and research needed. Most patents list similar ones and sometimes explain why yours is different.
Whether the patent is awarded or not you can proceed with making it as long as you are not infringing on someone elses. More online research can be done to find someone to make it for you. Keep in mind that for a Company to build something for you when you are not an established entity already you may have to have credit refrences or put money down before the product is built.
There usually is maintenance fee's for the patent as well and depending if you file internationally they can build up rather quickly. There are some good firms in Des Moines that I would recommend including but not limited to the Zarley Firm.
If the patent is awarded and you don't want to deal with making the product you can always sell the patent. Again a good firm would be able to help you with a value and probably even market it for you. You can even sell it on E-bay. Sometimes that can be the best bet as the process of manufacturing, marketing, selling, dealing with returns so on and so forth can be overwhelming if you are not prepared.
What others have said is true. First contact a reputable patent firm and discuss it with them. You can easily do some research prior to the meeting as the fed govt has an excellent patent seach website and there are other sites that link into this like Google Patents. Look your idea in every way you can think because someone may already have something done.
Typically the patent firm will do some research and let you know if they think the idea has a chance to be awarded a patent. Then the patent itself will need to be written. This is the tricky part and where good attorney's really are worth their weight in gold. Good firms will be able to do the artwork and drawings and write the entire patent. Just make sure they keep the claims as general or broad as possible. The more you "define" the idea in the claims the easier it will be for someone to design around. The research and writing of the patent can run anywhere from $1000-$10,000 pending the complexity of the patent and research needed. Most patents list similar ones and sometimes explain why yours is different.
Whether the patent is awarded or not you can proceed with making it as long as you are not infringing on someone elses. More online research can be done to find someone to make it for you. Keep in mind that for a Company to build something for you when you are not an established entity already you may have to have credit refrences or put money down before the product is built.
There usually is maintenance fee's for the patent as well and depending if you file internationally they can build up rather quickly. There are some good firms in Des Moines that I would recommend including but not limited to the Zarley Firm.
If the patent is awarded and you don't want to deal with making the product you can always sell the patent. Again a good firm would be able to help you with a value and probably even market it for you. You can even sell it on E-bay. Sometimes that can be the best bet as the process of manufacturing, marketing, selling, dealing with returns so on and so forth can be overwhelming if you are not prepared.
AIRASSAULT
PMA Member
Thanks.. that's some good info..
Is it possible to patent a particular use for someone elses product...? I have ideas for products that are already made, but not used in such a way that I think a TON of money could be made off of it.
Highmark
PMA Member
All depends on their claims. If the patent was written correctly I'd doubt it but that would be a question for the patent attorney.
