Is there an engineer in the house?

[hatman]

I've got this idea. It's pretty simple, really. But I think it's a good one. Could help some people, could make some money. All well and good.

Problem is that I don't know what to do with it. You can't just go to a company and sell them the idea and let them work out the details. I know that much. You have to get the patent first. Which requires having the details worked out already, including a working prototype.

Shouldn't be a big deal, but the details in this case involve some electrical engineering. On a basic, practical level, but still... It's stuff that's beyond me right now. (Mild dyslexia always made it difficult, but the fibro fog added on puts it that much further out of reach.)

I need help.

1. Someone who can work out how the switches need to be wired together to get the right output.

Volunteers? Suggestions of where to look or whom to ask?

2. Also need help with the patent process.

Had a neighbor who started me on it once, years ago. He worked for one of those companies that do that. Helped me get everything ready for the initial filing. Even gave me materials to get working on a prototype. Until, the day before I was going to mail them, I was flipping through a magazine in the local library and saw an ad for a small company that was just starting up selling the Sleep Number Bed. Dammit.

Anyway... neighbor's gone now. Died just a few years later. I'm not sure where to go now. Do I want to work with one of those companies, or are they a rip-off? Anyone have thoughts, suggestions, and/or experience to share?

Comments

[seekingferret]

You don't necessarily need a working prototype in order to get a patent. You can file for a provisional patent based purely on a concept provided the concept is novel and you describe it clearly, and if you're going to end up working on the idea with a person you don't know that well, it's probably a good idea to do so to protect yourself.

That much was imparted to us on Day 1 of engineering school, quite literally. It's engineering 101. Beyond that, I don't know all that much about patents.

As far as electrical engineering stuff, I can do some basic things with circuits, but I'm a mechanical engineer, not an electrical engineer. My ability to play with electronic logic is limited and was haphazardly acquired in the service of various mechanical projects.

[hatman]

Huh. They never taught us about patents in my engineering classes. Maybe they'd have gotten to it later in the program (I was halfway through junior year when I went on medical leave). Day 1 for us was a boring lecture (delivered in a dull monotone) about static forces in basic truss structures.

I'm hoping that I can find an EE I do know somewhat. Asked some old college friends, as well. And I have a vague notion that there may be one in the family - a cousin or something on Mom's side.

But I'm also wondering about another path. My initial search turned up a patent for a computerized control system. Which would then just have to be reprogrammed instead of rewired. But I'm not sure how reliable that would be, and it seems less patentable, too.

[seekingferret]

Huh. Maybe it was because my freshman physics professor moonlighted as a law professor at a nearby law school. I'm fairly certain they brought him in at orientation to give a half hour lecture on the basics of patenting for engineers. Not enough for us to know how to go about doing it, but enough for us to know the right questions to ask, and enough for us to know when it was time to investigate patenting an idea.

I think it depends on what you're patenting. If you've developed a new technique for building a control system, it matters whether it's computerized or hardwired. If what you're patenting is some specific process that requires a control system, you probably want to design the patent so that it's essentially device independent. It would suck to come up with a brilliant concept and have someone submarine the patent by switching from hard-wired to reprogrammable hardware. But I imagine that's the sort of advice a good patent lawyer or a good book on patent law would help with.

[doranwen.livejournal.com]

I maybe am misreading. Were you saying your neighbor gave your idea to whoever started selling that item, or just that there was bad timing and someone else figured it out just a little before you did?

Anyway, I have no ideas about this sort of thing, but it sounds interesting. Will keep an eye on what you post regarding it. :)

[pgwfolc.livejournal.com]

The latter. Neighbor was very helpful and supportive. But it turns out that someone else beat me to the punch. By a few months, I think.

Anyway, got some good help and advice from a friend of a friend who used to be a patent lawyer, and it turns out that a neighbor down the street (across the street from where the neighbor mentioned above used to live) is a patent lawyer. So this just might get rolling. We'll see.