Product Design / Patent / Funding

oldpine

Hi,

I've been researching and working on a new product, which seems to tick all the boxes so far. I'm going to be deliberately vague about it, but it is not a new item, its something used everyday, but this version is more economic and efficient for a certain market.

I am fairly confident I can handle the sales / marketing / distribution, as I have quite a bit of experience, but I have never really been involved in any sort of product development or design before.

I haven't been able to find any patent on this product, although I did find a design concept online from a design student. The actual design is very similar, but the materials would be different. (there are only 2 materials, and I would be changing one of them). Can I apply for a patent? I understand the concept of prior art, but would changing the materials be sufficient, or would there need to be design changes?

Also, once I have the design for the product, I would need a prototype. I think it would be best to get it made in Ireland / the UK, and then ask Chinese manufacturers to duplicate it, as I understand they aren't great at making a new product from scratch. Does anyone have a recommendation on where I can get this done?

And my final question relates to funding. If I have a physical product, and a supplier lined up, are there any grants / schemes etc that can help me get this launched?
The main market would be the US, so maybe I should get in touch with Enterprise Ireland? I have about €33,000 in savings, so I should be able to fund a lot of it myself, but I just wanted to see whats available

Only a patent attorney can really advise you on whether you can get one or not, and whether you should bother, given that this is not a new invention but more of an improvement.
Where you build your prototype depends on what the product is.

You can burn through 30g's real fast with something like this, and it will take you 1-2 years to get it to market probably, so be ready for that. It might be in your interest to take on a partner who has some experience in the road your about to go down.
Most of all you need to be damn sure your product will sell, and you need plenty of research and feedback to be sure. There is nothing worse then spending a long time on products -design, development and all that stuff when you can run into problems down the line that simply prevent the product from being listed

oldpine

Deleted User wrote: »

Only a patent attorney can really advise you on whether you can get one or not, and whether you should bother, given that this is not a new invention but more of an improvement.
Where you build your prototype depends on what the product is.

You can burn through 30g's real fast with something like this, and it will take you 1-2 years to get it to market probably, so be ready for that. It might be in your interest to take on a partner who has some experience in the road your about to go down.
Most of all you need to be damn sure your product will sell, and you need plenty of research and feedback to be sure. There is nothing worse then spending a long time on products -design, development and all that stuff when you can run into problems down the line that simply prevent the product from being listed

Thanks, I'll look into the patent more. I think it might be possible to patent - it performs the same as an existing product, but the design and how it performs are completely different.

I plan on testing the idea before going into any sort of large scale production. The more I think about it, the product is very simple, I could probably make the prototype myself.

I think I could file a provisional patent for a few hundred, then make a few dozen units myself and make a basic website or sell them on ebay / amazon to see what the response is like. Wouldn't imagine that could cost more than a couple of thousand?

Yes this is one of your routes to market too. Ive done this with a few products so I always look for the fastest way to make a big success.
Some issues you might have with this route are people copying your product. So that will come back to the strength of your patent application and so on.

In general if your product is really good and you put it on amazon it will be copied straight away, most likely in China and will start appearing around Asia. So this is a risk if you take the slow route. By the time your patent is issued your product is everywhere anyway and you spend your time trying to shut people down.
For example I distribute a patented product made in the US. People are sending me photos of copies from places like Hong Kong markets all the time.
First mover advantage is important with stuff like this and you can lose that if you take too much time bringing the product to market.

Peterdalkey

1. You need to establish if your idea has already been patented
2. If not, you need to find out if your idea can be patented
3. You then need to decide if it is actually worth having it patented, especially if you are not in a financial position to defend it through the (international) courts ( very, very expensive indeed).

Patents really only offer protection to those who can afford to defend them against infringement. Patents do not necessarily offer any commercial advantage and millions of patents are nothing but pieces of paper that never made a red cent for anyone, though probably cost someone a lot to secure!!

Having a brand and/or being first to market, as El Rifle points out, are probably much more important in terms of commercial success unless you have some really groundbreaking innovate and new design/technology advance to protect.

Lots of online advice articles including http://www.patentsoffice.ie/en/patents-frequently-asked-questions.aspx and http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/intellectualproperty/a/patenttrademark.htm