I have an invention idea but i'm not sure of where I should go or who I should talk to!!!!?

Question

Its a really good idea and i dont want to be ripped off im not sure if i shld get in contact with an engineer or just sell my idea to a company, please helllp. I would appreciate an intelligent and helpful answer thanks.

Answer 1

Before you go trying to make your money contact the United States Patent and Trademark office. They will check to make sure your idea hasn't already been patented, (meaning you can't sell it.) If your idea has not been patented make a model or plan that you can patent yourself.

Prior to contacting the engineer or selling your idea contact a lawyer to make sure that neither the engineer or the company will market the idea without your permission and that neither party will leak any information involving your idea to anyone who can potentially ruin it.

A lawyer will help clear up the legalities such as contracts and authorizations. If you want to be successful you have to make sure you stay in control of your goal at all times. Never let anyone take over for you. Loss of control over your project will only lead to problems.

Answer 2

Inventions get out into the world in different ways. Some of them are sold, licensed or given away as products or services. Simply exhibiting visual art, playing music or having a performance gets many artistic inventions out into the world. Believing in the success of an invention can involve risk, so it can be difficult to obtain support and funding. Grants, inventor associations, clubs and business incubators can provide the mentoring, skills and resources some inventors need. Success at getting an invention out into the world often requires passion for it and good entrepreneural skills.

There is a lot here about inventions.

Answer 3

Your first stop should be at a lawyer, specifically a patent attorney. Next, mail yourself a registered letter containing a copy of the documents you have such as drawings, descriptions and anything else you can think of which detail your idea. And then, do NOT open the letter when you get it. You need the postmark and intact envelope to protect your idea as yours fixed with a date and time against someone else with a competing idea. The patent attorney will advise you, but the main thing you need to do is a patent search to see if your idea already exists in some form. If the search turns up nothing, then your next stop is a prototype engineer who will help you with the practical matters of construction. It used to be that you had to have a working prototype to get a patent, but now it suffices that it could be built, and the engineer will determine this for you if you can not do it yourself. Do the research on your own, and then decide if it is practical to go on, on your own with the advice of the patent attorney and prototype engineer, or to sell the idea to someone else.