anyone ever sought after a patent?

I have not, but I did read a book called “How To License Your
Million Dollar Idea” which describes a pragmatic approach
for turning product ideas into income, whether or not
they are patentable. For that matter, patents can be
costly and impractical to defend in today’s knockoff economy,
particularly if the patent holder lacks the capacity to
meet market demands.

I would think the first thing you would need is a good patent lawyer who can offer sound advise…................

-- mike...............

Problem is, a company like Sears will simply steal your idea and begin building their own version of your product. An avg joe would have to spend millions just to have a chance to defend their patent. Heck, even fairly large companies often have to sell their patent rights to mega-large companies that can fend-off corporate parasites. See the link below. Sorry to be a cynic. But today’s patent laws favor the deepest pockets.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/popular-wrench-fights-chinese-rival-004542621.html

I will echo what everyone has said here…... Sad, you write and sing a song, someone else makes a song close to it you nail them, invent a great product you best have deep pockets….. By making everything so hard and expensive has eliminated a lot of great and sometimes life saving ideas from ever being offered….....

-- What we do in life will Echo through Eternity........

In some cases, the idea may not have a real broad appeal
and be specialized enough that you can set up to make
it yourself and these days even sell direct to consumers
(more or less) through outlets like Amazon. Lots of
woodworking aids are sold this way and there is often
not enough incentive for offshore knock-off firms to
bother with the English speaking market if they
copy the product at all.

In other cases, you can go to a firm that makes and
sells such things… Woodworkers Supply, Lee Valley,
Rockler, and so forth and work out a deal. While
they can screw you over if they want to, reputable
firms understand that inventors come up with more
than one marketable idea in their careers. If your
idea is really an innovation like the wrench in the article,
then there’s cause to patent it. The article said
the company making the wrenches in the states laid
off 31 workers, and that tells me that this is a mass-market
tool innovation that is worth fighting over.

In the case of lots of products however… kitchen gadgets,
toys, and wood products, the reality is that even if
patents can be obtained, they are not defensible
and the best strategy is to get the product on the
market and sell as many units as possible before the
knock-off firms produce and ship (typically 2-4 quarters)
to retailers.

Patents are so easy to get around that if I had a product unique enough I would just start manufacturing it and selling it. When one of the deep pocket guys starts to make them just drop the product and invent another. You could put the words “Patent Pending” on your idea. This may slow some folks down a bit .

-- In God We Trust

Unfortunately there are people who specialize in stealing ideas. I agree with building and marketing it yourself as much as you can. Get what you can out of it and run.

-- Mother Nature created it, I just assemble it. - It's not ability that we often lack, but the patience to use our ability

You can file a provisional patent for about $300 dollars. fill out the paperwork yourself it’s not that difficult. The provisional is intended for a one year timeframe in order to give the inventor time to finalize the design but get some protection. In reality you would want to use it to get some market share before the big guys jummp in. If your market share is profitable enough then worry about going full bore and hiring lawyers.

-- The basis for optimism is shear terror

Check the statistics on how much you invest in lawyers and marketing versus the return you get for the endless stream of cash you pay to the lawyers, and you will soon find out for yourself – IT IS NOT WORTH IT .

Go to PopCap industries for good free honest practical advise first.

I totally agree with Jim Finn – the first to market wins and like a good poker player – ya gotta know when to fold.

-- Love thy neighbour as thyself

The man that came up with the over flow tank idea for car radiators did patent it. He sold them for less than $10 in discount stores. Several years later all the car makers were using the idea so he sued them and won MILLIONS. Honda held out since they were a foreign company. The US courts told them they could pay their fair share or stopp selling them in the US. They finally paid. I would not say it is impossible to win. Seek wise council and most of us are not lawyers on here.

Unfortunately, look up the guy who invented the windshield wiper delay:

http://www.autonews.com/article/20081002/zzz_special/810029938

No good deed goes unpunished…

-- HorizontalMike -- "Woodpeckers understand..."

Yeah, Mike, I read he had a nervous breakdown and his wife left him. All that left is a downtrodden soul.
The auto makers smirking all the way to the bank. The patent attnys,. sitting high and dry on a pile of his cash.

-- Love thy neighbour as thyself