WE'VE MOVED!
We are proud to announce our NEW community destination. Engage with resident experts and fellow entrepreneurs, and learn everything you need to start your business. Check out the new home of StartupNation Community at startupnation.mn.co
We are proud to announce our NEW community destination. Engage with resident experts and fellow entrepreneurs, and learn everything you need to start your business. Check out the new home of StartupNation Community at startupnation.mn.co
Need to find out if my idea is original!

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!
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!
Sign In or Register to comment.
Comments
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@
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 Step 2, in particular, you`ll learn about licensing vs. building a complete business on your own.
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!