Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello!  This is my first post here, and indeed my first attempt at anything entrepreneurial!  Anyway, about a year ago, I began looking for a particular type of industrial electric product that I saw a real need for.  To make a long story short, everyone I asked.. coworkers, peers, salesman, google search, etc. came up empty.  It seems like such an obvious idea for a product that I`m still having trouble believing that noone already makes it.  I`ve stopped openly talking about the details of this product because if it really doesn`t exist, I want to be the one to introduce it!  So how exactly do I go about determining if my inspiration is original, or if it is already in production but poorly marketed?

Oh, and just to make this all the more tempting for me to go forward with, a friend of mine just happened to recently buy into a business that makes an extremely similar product for a different industry.  It would cost me almost nothing to build prototypes and go into limited production!

Hi
You`ll never be 100% certain your idea is original.

So far you`ve done all the right things. You might try patent searches, but success here really depends on the type of product.
I would try and brain storm other ways this product might be classified and try to search it out on google, also try searching only in a different country. Try the UK

If you can`t find a trace, then you move on to step two.

Do a patent search at www.uspto.gov and search the web too. You might check out the book "Patent It Yourself" by David Pressman. He talks a lot about patent searching and how to file, etc. It`s a good guide, even if you use an atty.
Good luck!

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Do you know about the Thomas Register? It`s a comprehensive resource for industrial information, products, services, CAD drawings, and more. In the good old days, we had to keep their big books on the shelf. Now, it`s online. Worth a look if you`re talking industrial.

R@ 

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Richard Arnold · Key Concept Writers · Business Communication: The "Key" To Success· Law of Attraction Blog · Life Ain`t Brain Surgery Blog

if you`re really serious about this, go talk to a patent attorney for a preliminary consultation. get his/her advice. if the result is a feeling that there`s the potential for a patent, and you can spare $600-$700, ask for a patent search to be done. that way you`ll know if there`s "prior art."

also do as much calling around and searching on the internet as you can. we`ve found that you not only learn whether or not what you`ve come up with is out there already, but you can improve on your own idea by learning ever more about what the needs are and what does exist so far.

in terms of a process to move forward, our 10 Steps process is just what the doctor ordered. when you scroll down in Step 2, in particular, you`ll learn about licensing vs. building a complete business on your own.

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Rich Sloan , Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist, StartupNation

A patent search is your next best step.  See www.dirtcheappatents.com/newtoinventing1.asp to learn how to do your own preliminary patent search for free.  There`s a Key Word Worksheet there for you to use that simplifies the process.

Don`t pay $600 for a patent search if the device is a relatively simple mechanical invention.  We do them for $249, once you`ve done the preliminary search yourself (and haven`t found it).

kevin,

sounds like you`ve got a much better price for a patent search than those that patent attorneys conduct. can you explain to us how you`re able to do a patent search for so much less money and what we should expect in terms of the difference between a patent search delivered by a patent attorney vs. a registered patent agent or your organization, dirtcheappatents.com?

thanks!

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Rich Sloan , Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist, StartupNation

Question/answer  time...

I`ve got the question  and hope someone else has the answer..

 

Im not a patent lawyer and I don`t play one on TV either so I need to ask...

a business that makes an extremely similar product for a different industry.

I`m not sure,, does it matter if the product is for a different industry??

I design something that is used for XYZ, I have the patent, I am manufacturing it and selling it on the open market. 

Someone else comes up with a different use for the product because it is            an extremely similar product                                                                        now they can patent it?,  so I guess what Im asking is...   can you patent the use of a product?

Do you think it may be patentable beause there is enough of a difference or have you made an improvement to the product, >> 

thanks  Mike

Rich,

A patent attorney usually hires a search firm to conduct the search, which costs the attorney typically $150 to $300.  Then the attorney reviews the search resport and formulates an opinion about what the search report means for the client at his or her hourly rate.  That`s where the search can get expensive.  My search report does includes my opinion, and my hourly rate isn`t nearly what a typical patent attorney charges.  But the bottom line is, for a patentability search (a search to see if a particular invention is patentable), I think paying upwards of $400 isn`t necessary... unless the research is in a very specialized field that requires a Ph.D to understand how to search it.

I did over 1,000 searches in the last year, and I do them on-line at www.Delphion.com (I`m not going into the patent office search room to do the search, obviously, since I`m in Southern California). If you want to see a sample of a typical search report that I produce (it`s 9MB, so be warned when you click on the link), go to www.DirtCheapPatents.com/patentsearch.asp and click on the "sample search" link down a ways on the left.  If you have any other questions, please email me directly so we don`t take-up too much time on this forum.

Mike,

There`s a pretty good write-up on what exactly constitutes an invention at http://www.ctt.upenn.edu/oasis/org/U.aspx?M=M050415-55705482 &U=031021-19826471&UT=Generic . See the section under "New Use" which explains that, for example, if it were discovered that aspirin was able to increase lifting thrust when added to rocket fule, then you could get a patent on the new use of a previously known chemical formula. 

Now, that new use has to be non-obvious (and I think you could argue that going from pain relief to fuel additive is non-obvious).  But if it`s an obvious leap, say using a paintbrush to apply varnish instead of paint, well... that would be obvious to those skilled in the art of applying liquid coatings. 

If you have a specific example that you can share, please do.  Otherwise, you can email me directly or call me off-line, and I`ll give you my thoughts.