I have and idea that I would like to patent, but don't have an actual blueprint done.  How can I get a patent and find a company to make my product?
134611
Ideas can not be patented, only inventions of some sort.  Before you can patent an invention, you will need to "reduce it to practicability" -- which is basically legalese for build a prototype or develop extremely specific plans.  There is also a complicated process of patent searching to be performed, to ensure that your invention has not been previously patented and to check whether it depends on anyone else's patented inventions.  Your best bet is to find a reputable, licensed patent attorney; your local bar association may be able to recommend some for you.  You should talk to a patent attorney before you tell your idea to any manufacturers, though, because you could wind up ruining your ability to get a patent later.  Good luck with your idea.
205202
You may start by reading how to go about this process so you won't be blindsided by scammers, ripped off by other companies or your idea stolen from you:\n\n5 Actions You Must Take to Assure a Successful Invention http://www.powerhomebiz.com/122005/invention.htm\nHow to Make Money from Your Inventions  http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol121/inventor.htm\nHow To Protect Your Idea http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol81/protectidea.htm \nHow to Get Your Consumer Invention to Market\n http://www.powerhomebiz.com/012006/invention.htm\n\n\nHere are books I recommend:\n\n- Protecting Your #1 Asset : Creating Fortunes from Your Ideas : An Intellectual Property Handbook \n- Patents and How to Get One : A Practical Handbook \n- Patent It Yourself \n- Protecting Your Ideas : The Inventor's Guide to Patents
569578
NOLO is a great, free informational site. Also, be sure to read what the USPTO (United States Patent & Trademark Office) has to say about patents.\n\nResearch, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can. Here are some book titles that are relevant:\n\nPATENTS:\n* Patent It Yourself (11th Edition) by David Pressman\n* Patents and How to Get One : A Practical Handbook by U.S. Department of Commerce\n* How To Make Patent Drawings Yourself: A Patent It Yourself Companion by Jack Lo\n* The Inventor's Notebook: A Patent It Yourself Companion by Fred E. Grissom\n\nPRODUCT DEVELOPMENT:\n* From Patent To Profit: Secrets & Strategies For The Successful Inventor, Third Edition by Bob Dematteis\n* How to License Your Million Dollar Idea: Everything You Need To Know To Turn a Simple Idea into a Million Dollar Payday, 2nd Edition by Harvey Reese\n* The Inventor's Bible: How to Market and License Your Brilliant Ideas by Ronald Louis Docie \n* The Complete Idiot's Guide(R) to Cashing in On Your Inventions by Richard Levy\n\nThere are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.\n\nHope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!
38169
sounds like you want to add on to an existing patent from the aviation industry. that can be done, it is however pretty difficult for the little guy to deal with the big companies. if you can find a good quality patent attorney and a business attorney that would be a start. you will also need big dollars to start.\n\ni have seen some great inventions go nowhere because industry needs a cost benefit analysis that proves to them that they will make incredible profits from your idea. \n\nsome guy invented a tail light that pulsed with the application of the brakes and varied based upon the speed of deacceleration. awesome product used on motorcycles and it was also tested in taxicabs. he could not interest the automakers. it would be saving lives and accidents today.
661782
Re: Mail - A patent can be granted to other with the same idea that you mail yourself. So, you can end up having to find out that patent and then wasting $/time to try to challenge that patent.\n\nIf you file the patent, then assuming the patent office do their job correctly, they won't grant another patent similar to the first patent.\n\nI have never file patent myself, but I suppose you can do it yourself if you are short of cash. I believe filling out the correct forms carefully, selecting the correct wordings, etc, and maybe some filing fees are all that's needed.
3274
You can protect your idea by filing a provisional claim with the USPTO. This is kind of like a "patent lite" and allows you to protect the product for up to a year.  The cost is US$200 and should be done straight away. Visit the PTO website for information on filing applications electronically. \n\nAfter that, prepare yourself for a tremendous uphill battle. If this is a design patent (i.e. a new form of an existing product), you will find it difficult to locate interested buyers. If this is a utility patent (a new product or process), you will need to find companies within the industry and see if they are interested. \n\nYou will want to get a hold of a standard NDA/NC (Non-Disclosure Agreement / Non-Compete). These are fairly boilerplate and should be easy to locate on the 'net. Requiring NDA's is STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE when shopping around an idea and manufacturers are generally comfortable signing them. If a manufacturer refuses to sign, WALK AWAY. There is something wrong. An NDA is no guarantee that a company won't steal your idea, but at least it provides evidence of due dilligence during any potential infringement lawsuit.\n\nSearch the various government department websites for grant applications. The government is always looking to foster the development of new ideas that can potentially benefit the nation. There are grants for both non-profit and for-profit company's available and some even include grants for "concept development and R&D". \n\nBarring that, you may want to consider some form of rapid prototyping. Depending on the invention idea, this could be a short production run of the product, some kind of stereo lithography or other RP, or a "proof of concept" 3-D model, engineering analysis, etc. Having a physical, working prototype that a potential buyer can see, touch and interact with is FAR more impressive than a napkin sketch. Be prepared to spend $1-10K on a prototype. Well worth the investment, because if a picture is worth 1,000 words, a prototype is worth 1,000,000.\n\nGood Luck!
668316
You need to buy a patent. A copyright would only be available (and would be automatic and free) if your invention had artistic qualities.
615227
NOLO is a great, free informational site. Also, be sure to read what the USPTO (United States Patent & Trademark Office) has to say about patents.\n\nResearch, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can. Here are some book titles that are relevant:\n\n* Patent It Yourself (11th Edition) by David Pressman\n* Patents and How to Get One : A Practical Handbook by U.S. Department of Commerce\n* How To Make Patent Drawings Yourself: A Patent It Yourself Companion by Jack Lo\n* The Inventor's Notebook: A Patent It Yourself Companion by Fred E. Grissom\n\nThere are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.\n\nHope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!
332790
You need to speak to an intellectual property lawyer first.  I used to work for a great IP firm (you know, before the Internet, everyone knew that IP = Intellectual Property...now, IP = Internet Protocol, ie, "What's your IP address?")\n\nClick on this link and talk to the folks at RatnerPrestia.  They've done work for mom & pop inventors, and some of the largest companies around (including Microsoft, and Matsushita -- also known in America as "Panasonic").\n\nGood luck!  IP Lawyers are all engineer-types...they're not just lawyers...they know how to take your idea and first find out if it's already been patented, and secondly they know how to convince a patent examiner (the folks in Washington who decide if you get a patent or not) that your idea does, indeed, merit a patent.
581267
A company called Davison Inventegration at davison@mail.davisongetsresults.com can help you with the promotion of your product. They will send you an inventors package in the mail. everything is confidential and your rights protected. Good Luck!
9272
Your new product should fall into one of these categories...\n\nThere are three types of patents: \n\n1) Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof; \n\n2) Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture; and \n\n3) Plant patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant. \n\nDefinitely contact an intellectual property attorney. Also, read more about patents at the USPTO site & at Nolo. I listed the links.\n\nI also listed some handy marketing links.\n\nDo you have a name in mind for your product? Prior to investing your time, money & effort into a name, it is strongly advised that comprehensive research be conducted to ensure that the name you're interested in is truly available. \n\nThis entails searching the pending & registered Federal and State trademark files as well as the US National Common-Law files. Then, if clear, you can decide if you would like to file for a Federal or a State trademark. \n\nResearch is needed to make sure your trade name is legally available, before opening, before expansion, before incorporation or before designing your logo. Similarities in sound, appearance and meaning affect you too!\n\nThere are 16+ million trade names in use in the United States. Similar names matter, if close in sound, appearance or meaning. Similar names in related classes, distribution channels and customer matter too. You are affected by Common Law use (14 million), State Trademarks (500,000) and Federal Trademarks (2 million). \n\n\nHope that helps!
491464
Most manufacturers will not even be interested in learning about your invention unless you have first applied for some type of patent application.  In the United States you can file a provisional application for $100 (that is the fee due at filing at the US Patent Office assuming you are an individual inventor or a company with 500 or fewer employees), but in order to ultimately obtain a patent you would need to subsequently file a non-provisional application, or just start by filing a non-provisional application and skip the provisional application process.  In either case, whatever your disclosure contains in the first filing will define the scope of your invention, so you want to make sure it is complete.  You will not be able to update your disclosure later, so the first filing is all important.  This is one of the reasons many inventors hire patent attorneys.\n\nIPWatchdog.com has a a unique process for creating patent applications, a process for which it has its own patent pending. Because this process is more of a team effort the cost is in line with what you would expect to pay an invention submission company, but you get real help and meaningful guidance. This model works because it leverages the energy of the inventor/entrepreneur together with the legal expertise of a patent attorney. Minimizing the involvement of professionals is the way to keep costs down, but you don't want to go it alone without some help, otherwise you risk jeopardizing adequate protection, which would lead to vast amounts of time and energy, not to mention money, being wasted. \n\nThe IPWatchdog process, in a nutshell, requires the inventor to submit answers to a detailed invention questionnaire, with the submitted information being used to create a first draft of the application. A patent attorney then reviews the draft and sends it back to you together with questions, suggestions, explanations and additional information. The inventor then modifies the draft as appropriate and then returns it for a second review. A patent attorney again reviews your application and again returns it to the inventor with comments and suggestions, assuming any additional modifications are warranted. At the time your second review is returned the inventor is provided you with the completed forms necessary for filing at the United States Patent Office.
336601
"Patent" isn't the right word.  A patent protects a new invention or a new way of doing something.  Baby bibs are great but certainly not a new idea!  What you want is a Fictitious Business Name.  Most states let you file a form with the Secretary of State's office with the company name you want to use.\n\nThen you publish a notice in the back of the newspaper so people can see it, and anyone who objects to you using that name can speak up.  This is to insure that your name is really original.  Once you show the Secretary of State's office that you've done all that, they will issue you a certificate.\n\nYou can use that certificate now as your "business name."  You can open a checking account under that name, get a business license from your city or county, and other fun stuff.\n\nI will leave it to others to answer questions about selling things on the internet.  I have heard there are a lot of good ways to set up online stores.
402659
I would patent the idea first and then go to Microsoft so they can't steal it from you.  If they do try and steal it from you and you have a patent then you can sue them, but if they know you have a patent and they like it they can purchase it from you.
574406
Try the US Patent Office.  Perhaps the FAQ's can help a little.
398426
You have to get it patented. Which from my research would cost you at the most $4,000. Call Patent USA or go online
423152
Are you going to have a trade mark???  most companies don't have one,  but you can have one and file one if you want one.