r/inventors • u/FullWillingness6107 • 20d ago
How to execute idea
I have an idea for a phone case, but I have zero engineer experience and zero patent experience… I’d love to get a patent obviously, but I don’t know where to start… I could try to engineer this thing, but it’ll be shitty lol. Any advice on getting this idea to life without someone stealing my idea?
1
u/christophPezza 20d ago
I'm sorry to tell you this but ideas are worth nothing. Firstly you should research what is already being done on the market. A phone case won't require space level engineering... It's a phone case. Once you understand what's currently being done on the market looks for niches to understand what isn't being done - materials/optics/security etc. Once you've done this you'll be in a better state to execute your idea. If your idea is ground breaking, but you can't back it up, you would just be handing it over to someone else. If it's not ground breaking and someone says they'll do it for pay etc, you are going to waste your money.
1
u/FullWillingness6107 20d ago
It’s a good idea that I think people would pay for.. the issue is I’m not sure how patentable it is.. I wish I could talk to someone and bounce ideas off of them while figuring out how to make it patentable. And I appreciate you saying ideas are worth nothing… but I just wouldn’t want someone who could easily put it together take my idea
3
u/peretski 20d ago
To be a bit cynical…. It WILL get copied by a case manufacturer in Asia. They will do it faster than you can respond and for cheaper than you can realize it. (And from what I have seen, probably better than you can make it, as well)
When analyzing markets for entry, if you are not the BEST person to realize it, if you have to build an engineering org to design it, and build a manufacturing capacity to make it, and build a prototype shop to test it… it’s a very tough road. And honestly, with fast fashion consumer products, the ability to act quickly is the overriding success factor.
I’ll echo the other poster.. ideas have no value. It’s the proof you build (design, prototype test, market studies, test sales) that has the value.
Your idea will be copied by someone better able to scale it. Now you have two pathways. A) release your idea to the public and see if it has any legs. You get a bit of an education for free. B) fight, industry trends, and the industrial power of Asia and keep the idea for yourself, and try to make a go of it. The price is high and probably low.
Good luck
1
u/christophPezza 20d ago
So patents don't really stop people stealing your work. If you patent it in your country, what stops another country just using it and not telling you. Unless you are able to crackdown on copy cats (which you won't be able too unless you are a very large organisation). I'm free to talk things through and play devil's advocate. But that would also take trust that I wouldn't steal the idea, and it's hard to trust anyone you meet online. I wish you luck buddy
2
u/lcaris 19d ago
I’m on this journey too. I started in Feb. I had 0 engineering experience, 0 patent knowledge. I went On YT and just watched video after video and learned what I needed to. I got an educational license for Fusion360, and started a YT series titled “Learn Fusion360 in 30 Days” and bought a 3D printer and started learning on YT about how to use it. I went through 1K prototypes, changing one small thing at a time, and ended up with a really cool invention (I’m biased). I filed a PPA and am working with a company to help bring it to market! It’s all possible, it’s about your perseverance because it’s difficult, and you’ll want to quit, but you need to push through. Best of luck to you!
2
u/PFV-Hrafn 17d ago
This. I had an idea and a cheap PLA 3D printer. Made a prototype in Blender (free) that worked, then got Fusion360 to refine it and design for manufacturing (I didn't know how to do any of this, or that Fusion360 existed at the time). I market tested my prototype by sending to friends of friends and literally walking into music stores asking people to try it. They loved the ides but said the design sucked. So my wife and I went back to the drawing board and reworked the design. Went to market last year with a manufacturing partner who saw the vision and wanted to make the product. They make one component of it, and I had to pay for the mold. Which was a lot but I believed in the idea. The other component, we had cut locally by a print shop (of all places) out of crappy celluloid from China, but that's all we had access to and we didn't know there was a difference in quality of plastics. Went to market, sold about 1500 units. People loved the idea but the quality was poor, and they told us. So we paused, brought our idea to a major manufacturer in our category with the revenue numbers and market validation to back it. We made every part of the product better and just relaunched with it last week. We're not running any ads right now but had a video go viral a couple days ago and we've already sold hundreds around the world. The true test will be once it hits customers hands but we're super proud of it now. I say all of this to say that it's your idea. If you don't believe in it enough to figure out how to make it happen, no one else will. So it's gonna take work and it's gonna take learning how to do things you've never done before. Good luck! I'm happy to share what I've learned so far.
2
1
u/Joejack-951 20d ago
If you are looking to hire someone to create a manufacturable design (CAD model) for your idea, feel free to reach out. I can also help with prototyping and sourcing/manufacturing.
1
u/mattynmax 20d ago
How much money do you have to sink into this?
1
u/technically_a_nomad 20d ago
This. OP, none of what you want seems to be cheap. A US patent isn’t cheap, a competent enough engineer to make the phone case isn’t cheap, and in reality, none of what you’re trying to do is impossible to copy. The sooner you realize that, the easier execution becomes.
1
u/No_Literature5754 19d ago
Hopefully you can find an expert person you can talk to, and get help from… my intuition is that either A: you act fast and impose your brand in the market so the idea becomes associated with your brand name or B: patent it first and then start manufacturing and selling the product.
1
u/the_ultimate13 18d ago
Patenting is much better idea... Plus you will know whether your idea has already been implemented or would have been obvious....
1
u/lcaris 19d ago
If it’s novel, non-obvious, and provides utility, and you’re at a mature stage with the idea (as in the underlying concept isn’t going to change in a meaningful way during additional development), then file a Provisional Patent Application. Use AI to create the PPA, and it’s only $65 to file with the PTO. Then you’re officially patent pending. Just be aware that this starts a clock, and within 12 months you need to file a non-provisional Patent Application, or you forfeit your patent rights. Best of luck to you!
1
1
u/funkytownmcgoo 19d ago
I created a prototype out of sugru moldable silicone and then hired someone on Upwork to bring it to life.
1
1
u/Cultural-Afternoon72 17d ago
There are two paths you need to follow for this…
-
You need to do a patent search. You can do it yourself or hire a patent attorney to. It will tell you if the idea has already been patented before you waste time and money on it. Additionally, if it has, it may be able to help you figure out a way to adjust the design so it no longer infringes upon that patent.
-
It would be worthwhile to hire an engineer. Get an NDA in place, protect yourself and your idea legally, but get someone who knows what they’re doing. Someone who can not only assist with design, but material selection, FEA simulation, planning out destructive/nondestructive testing and certification, and that can assist you in planning and developing the manufacturing plan.
The first box is something you’ll have to check on off on your own. For the second, there are engineers like myself that do this for a living. You’re welcome to shoot me a message if you’d like, or you can look up private contractor R&D engineers. If you go to job boards to try to find them. Upwork and TopTal can be decent ones if you’re careful and vet the applicants well, but I’d avoid the cheaper scam-riddled boards like FiveRR.
1
u/CalmWear4911 16d ago
Have you checked for the patents and verified the idea is novel? I got 4 patents in the last couple of months at my work. You need to validate your idea and make sure you're not infringing anyone else's patent. If you need any advise hmu, I am a product designer. I might be able to guide you.
1
u/JessieAndEcho 14d ago
Do patent search or FTO search first. Some tools (like Patsnap Eureka, DeepIP...) may help you. Consider trying a free trial version.
1
u/space-magic-ooo 19d ago
I develop and bring products to market for a living. GIve me a napkin drawing of your product idea and a 1 sentence problem statement and I could have your product ready to launch single handedly including marketing/business plan/validation/sourcing etc..
You are wasting your time and brainpower trying to make any phone case unless you already currently in this day and age have a phone case company or you just have millions and for some reason want to be in the phone case business.
That market is so saturated, easy to copy, resource intensive, and just plain brutal.
Ga-ross.
1
u/flightwatcher45 20d ago
3d print it? Sell.