Invention Help
Invention Development
Bringing a new product to the market is no small feat. Statistics suggest that approximately 80% of new products fail. Thus, it’s best to proceed with care and caution. That can be difficult when excitement about a new innovation is riding high. With the guidance of a seasoned intellectual property attorney, it may be possible to successfully navigate the difficult process of bringing a new product to the market while also protecting an innovative concept.
New inventions come about in numerous ways. Some are a bolt from the blue while others are the result of tireless months of experimentation. Regardless, the idea is merely the first step in a long process. The idea needs to be examined from all angles for its strengths and weaknesses. A number of questions must be answered. Is there a market for this invention? Is it possible to manufacture the item at a reasonable cost? Does this product already exist on the marketplace?
Initial Feasability Study
Many ideas don’t stand up to this initial analysis. Those that do, are worth investigating further. Part of this part of the invention process might include working with an intellectual property attorney. Such an attorney possesses legal experience in addition to a technical background. This enables them to understand the innovations in a product that make it novel. Frequently, the attorney recommends a patent search as an initial step. This lets the client know whether or not they can manufacture and market their product without infringing the patent rights of others.
There are rarely definitive answers in the results of a patent search. It’s virtually impossible to search all existing patents, and there may be pending patent applications that are not available at the time of the search. Nonetheless, a patent search can signal that a certain idea is worthy of development and perhaps the filing of a patent application.
Inventors who skip the patent search and the initial steps of development with a patent attorney often end up wasting a great deal of time and money. They may commit vast amounts of resources to a product that infringes the patent of a competitor. Usually they don’t realize they are infringing a patent until they receive notification from the other inventor’s legal counsel. In a moment the months or years of effort they have devoted to a new product are entirely undone.
Jeff Williams has a background as a mechanical engineer and a patent attorney. With his credentials he is qualified to assist clients who are considering bringing a new product to market. He conducts thorough patent searches and makes well-considered recommendations for how to proceed. Many of his clients have gone on to a successful product introduction and have obtained several patents for their inventions.