If you had an idea for a product...
 

What would you do with it?

In my head I know what it is and how it works, but to get it into something physical needs some mechanical engineering bod who knows how to CAD draw and then someone who can mock it up to prove it works.

Where would you start?

University? Also worried about it not being patented yet, etc.

if you are going to get people involved then has a non disclosure thing in place to help protect your 'idea'

There are "Dragon's Den" type entrepreneurs who may take an interest but I wouldn't know where to find them but some organisation must have a list or similar? Export Council or someone like that? Start with "Ideas" on Google.

Unis don't do anything for free anymore but perhaps you could find a bright young thing at a sixth form or technical college?

Or perhaps a direct approach to a company that might be interested in taking the concept forward.

No experience of patenting except that for some songs my boy wrote we posted a recorded letter to him with the material inside and it is kept unopened in a safe place and would demonstrate when the song was written i.e. if someone else tried to nick it.

dl

Lots of info here.

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/

I was involved in something similar but shelved it for now as finding financial backing is really hard. You will need a patent solicitor before you approach anyone & anyone you deal with will have to sign confidentiality agreements. Be warned it's expensive but if it's a good idea may be worth it.

ReallyYou Need You Get A Good Designer/Engineer In Early ,By All Means Get An NDA In Place,It Initially Does Not Need To Cost An Arm And A Leg, with Cad And RP Things Can Get To Test /Mockup Stage Very Quickly, Then You Can Decide On Patent Etc. For Example I Am Working On A Project At The Moment, They Have The Idea But Not How to Make It, I Basically Design It In Cad To See If It Looks Feasible Then Do A Very Cheap/Scratch Build Working Mock Up For Them To Test, Probably Under 1k When I Finish That Stage this Week. What You Need Is Someone Local To You Really. Ray t

Cheers guys, going to try and build a very basic mock up just to see if it actually works, then look at how to improve the design.

As for finance,you don't seem to have a problem with capitalisation.:D

I've had an idea about making washing machines more reliable for years. Went to an invention company who wanted £5k to patient it. At the time I didn't have the money so I shelved it.

I'm now considering loo roll with interesting facts on a each square or short stories. Even brown paper.

PMSL :lol1:

Think the posting style that you refer to is one the weirdest I have ever read on here...!

Why Would Anyone Type Like That :wonder:

Ah , Could That It Was Done On The Phone As I Was Out And About, As Is This Reply, Just Trying To Help Out, As It Is A Subject I Know SomeThing About.

Have a google for the story of ****Begone, the no-frills, purely functional recycled toilet paper :norty:

[edit]: stupid swear filter. The product name begins with an "S", you can probably guess the rest. [/ edit]

To the OP: possibly the most difficult thing to get used to is the fact that an idea alone is basically worthless. The value comes from the commercial opportunity that you turn it into, and for that to happen, you'll need to invest some time, money and effort yourself.

If, for example, you wanted my professional help to develop your idea, then there are several ways you might present your case. (Please note, I'm just using myself as an example here - my field is electronics, not mechanical engineering, but the basic ideas are the same whoever you might approach).

You could simply hire me to turn your idea into a working prototype. You'd get me to sign an NDA, and pay for my time spent at a CAD workstation turning it into a 3D model. You'd then send this 3D model to, say, a machine shop or 3d printer, and would end up with a physical model. Hopefully it would work. Budget some thousands of pounds to get to this stage, depending on how complex the design is.

If you can't afford this, then you might try to find a business partner who will help you out in return for a share in the profits. Let's say you could convince me that your idea will make X amount of money in Y amount of time, I might forego my fee in return for some share Z in your business - but only if you actually have a business that I can own a share in. Realistically your business partner is unlikely to be the person with the CAD skills, except perhaps by coincidence. One or other of you is still going to end up hiring people with whatever skills you happen to need at the time.

Even then, that only sets you up for the next stage which is to either present your idea to existing companies in the field who may wish to license the design from you, or you start your own company and make them yourself - but you'd need to have your patent application in first if you want this legal protection. This too is, as you no doubt know, time consuming and expensive. There's no such thing as a "world" patent either, so expect to have to submit applications in multiple countries.

The bottom line is that you need to expect to do all the initial legwork yourself, and to fund it out of your own pocket. You need to get to the stage of having not just a good idea, but a compelling and demonstrable business opportunity - and that means firm orders from customers.

A lot of prototypes are 3D printed these days using companies such as http://www.shapeways.com/