help with an idea

[shamguy4]

...ok this might be weird... and maybe not the place to post this, but I dont know where else to go...

And it has to do with my book... I created an object in my book... its an everyday object and I realized it actually could be a real object, as opposed to he rest of my book which is total fiction. I think it's a novel idea and I went and created pictures of it on Gimp (a program like photoshop... only free...)

I told a few people about it and they said it sounded interesting and so I have been looking online for a way to patent it and get it made.... But I dont know where to go or what to do... whenever I search on google I find some stupid site saying "Tell us your Idea and well make it!" ...yeah I'm not sure which site will 'steal' it and which site will actually help me....

[sanityassassin]

What type of item is it? is it simple (sword, cup, crown) or more complex like a piece of machinery or something with a mechanism, I would be more inclined to look locally first so that you could look in on the process and have more say how it is made

[Lith]

Have you checked with the US department of patents? I'm sure they have a website.

To get a patent requires a lot of work and detailed planning, and explaining why you deserve to have a patent. Your invention needs to be something that isn't likely to be thought of by another person, and then (I presume) you will want to put it into production, either by manufacturing it yourself or by selling it to a company.

If this is all something you're willing to do, then good luck!

[nj1]

There is a cost to gaining a patent (don't know the cost) and you may want to look into an international patent also

[shamguy4]

its a mechanical item that will make life easier...
And yeah I want to patent it because i think its a great idea, and I'm wondering why no one else has made such an item...

[power to the J]

I'd say just keep the Google-ing up. That's realy the best way to find, and if you get real far (in Google pages language), then I suggest just calling it your own. If it was as useful as you claim, wouldn't it be common and well known? Luck with this.

[Peter Graham]

Hi Shamguy

I told a few people about it and they said it sounded interesting and so I have been looking online for a way to patent it and get it made.... But I dont know where to go or what to do... whenever I search on google I find some stupid site saying "Tell us your Idea and well make it!" ...yeah I'm not sure which site will 'steal' it and which site will actually help me....

I think Lith is right. US patent procedures might be different, but over here you would need rather more than an idea or a photoshop image to get a patent or a registered trademark. The Patent Office would need to be satisfied that you had invented something genuinely innovative, which means they'd be looking at the cogs and wheels more than anything else. They need to make sure that your air-powered hover car isn't just a sleek, groovy body shell with a Mark II Cortina engine stuck in the middle! The substance will be far more important than the form.

You haven't told us what your idea is (and very sensible, too), but if I were you, I'd forget all these online "get rich quick" mountebanks and go straight to your equivalent of the Patent Office. They should have guidance notes about what and how you register something. If you have struck oil, make sure you are fully protected before you do anything else.

Regards,

Peter