Here are some steps you need to take:
- Consult a patent lawyer and check if your idea can be patented.
- Keep extensive records tracking the development of your idea.
- Conduct an extensive research to find out if there are similar patents.
- Document where, how and to whom you showed your idea.
- Do your own market research if your idea is marketable
- Explore the possibility of developing the product yourself, or licensing someone else to make the product for you.
Getting Started:
- The Ideabook = Keep a bound ideabook of your invention idea. Date your entries.
- Get it Notarized = get it officially confirmed that you conceived your invention idea on a particular date, and have your notes notarized.
- Seek and Search = Do your own patent search to ascertain if your invention is original and prospectively patentable.
- Create the Initial Prototype = Use simple materials to rig it up, to see if it works.
- Get Educated = Educate yourself on the inventing process. Go to a bookstore or inventorhelp.com and review the plethora of books written on the subject.
- The Non-Disclosure Form = Agreement signed between you and anyone you reveal your invention to.
Moving Ahead
- Analyze Costs to Produce = Ascertain what the costs will be.
- The Evaluation Process = Analyze the benefits and features, strengths and weaknesses of your invention.
- Get a Professional Prototype = Have professional prototypes made, the quality of which can be shown to potential retail buyers.
- Protect Your Idea = Apply for a provisional patent yourself.
- The Non-Provisional Patent = Your patent attorney files your non-provisional patent application.
Options for Marketing
- Licensing = The inventor has the choice to license the invention to a manufacturer in exchange for a royalty percentage in sales.
- Manufacturing = Manufacturing and distributing your invention entails higher financial risk but can reap greater profits.
Here are some books that can help you:
- From Patent to Profit by Bob De Matteis
- Protecting Your #1 Asset : Creating Fortunes from Your Ideas : An Intellectual Property Handbook
- Patents and How to Get One : A Practical Handbook
- How to Register Your Own Trademark : With Forms
- Patent It Yourself
- Protecting Your Ideas : The Inventor's Guide to Patents