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The Proper Steps for Inventing a Product

Inventing a product consists of many steps and the journey can be a long one! What is most important for any inventor is to make sure that you follow the steps IN ORDER to ensure the best possible opportunity for success. There are many resources on the internet and in bookstores that will outline these steps. However, some of those resources have not taken certain things into consideration and the one that matters most is money. If you have unlimited resources or have allocated monies to developing your invention( and most people do not), then you can proceed with developing your invention with experienced engineering and design firms and you can hire the very best consultants and you will likely "fast track" your project and properly develop a product that looks great and functions exactly as you intended. For the rest of us, inventing takes creativity when it comes to funding their project and so the steps I have listed below take "limited funds" into consideration and hopefully you can make the most with what you have.

Step 1 - Do a patent search. You MUST make sure that your idea is not already patented or patent pending by someone else. The real scary part about not doing a patent search is not that someone else simply has the idea, but if you develop your invention and sell it on the open market, you would be infringing on the other person's patent and you could be looking at a law suit. This is not a place you want to be and it could cost you thousands or more...and basically put you out of business in a hurry. You can do a patent search on your own on the USPTO website and I even see people using search engines such as Google but I always suggest you use a patent agent or attorney to complete the search. They are usually the most thorough and experienced in knowing how to properly search and have lots of experience in doing it right.

Step 2 - Assess the viability of your product. Far too often, I talk to people who go ahead and spend tens of thousands of dollars doing CAD work, engineering, and other development work without finding out if anyone in the world would even buy their product. Big mistake! Just because your husband or wife or next door neighbor thinks your idea is awesome, it certainly is no indication if the general public will buy your product once developed. Your family and friends love you...and so they almost always will support your ideas even if they don't really believe in them. Believe me, it is easy to get swayed by the kind words of those you know but total strangers giving you their opinion is much more reliable. The way to do this is to conduct consumer surveys or even focus groups to get opinions of many people. These can be done on-line and are worth the cost. It is much better to find out today that there is not much interest in your product (despite what you think of your product) then to spend a ton of money developing it and then finding out!

Step 3 - Have a design firm review your product. Now you are ready to make sure that your product can actually be made the way you intend it to be made. If you invented a new coffee cup and it has no moving parts or electrical components, it is much easier to evaluate but even then it is critical to understand what materials are the best ones to be used for your product and if your design will look the best and be comfortable and safe for the consumer. Big companies have research and development departments that spend lots of money to ensure the look, feel, and overall design of a product is sound and that consumers would be excited to purchase it based on how it comes across to shoppers. You should do the same. You also need to make sure that if you have a product that has electrical parts and moving parts that it is tested for safety and other concerns as you could be violating federal laws by not testing your product and developing a potentially unsafe product.

Step 4 - Patent the product - After you determine that the product is desired by consumers, is not infringing on someone else's patent, and you have determined that the product is able to be manufactures correctly and efficiently, it is time to file for patent protection. Filing for a patent will protect your idea so no one else can copy it the way you have designed it and will allow you to sell it to retailers with the comfort that you can be the first to market with your new product idea. Once again, I strongly urge you to use a patent attorney for this process. Doing a patent filing yourself is just not recommended. There are too many legal and technical issues that must be addressed and very few people and many engineers themselves should always consult with a patent attorney to complete the filing.

Step 5 - Develop the product - now it is time to work with an experienced company to handle the actual development of your product. Developing your product is often a long process that takes a number of months and even a year or more in some cases so you must be patient and understand that proper development is key to having a great product that looks and functions well and that is free from defects and potential problems. During the development stage, the product will now "come to life" as you will develop a working prototype, design packaging, and create collateral materials such as sell sheets and brochures that carefully describe your product.

Step 6 - Sales and marketing - This is what it all comes down to - sales and marketing. The big challenge is to now be able to effectively sell your product to major retailers or others who could be customers. You must learn how to reach the buyers and also to reach consumers via a public relations effort. In addition to the steps I just outlined, there are a number of other things that must occur simultaneously in order to prepare yourself and your new business for success. If you have very limited funds and need to raise money to go through all of the steps, then you must create a professional business plan in the early stages to raise the money you need to get your product developed and sold. You must also work to find a suitable manufacturer to produce the product after it is developed. Branding is a critical component of any successful product and so you need to create a logo and a name for your product that will cause people to want to buy it or like it. Bottom line is that there are so many things that need to be done but following the major steps above will allow you to see the order in which most products are developed.

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