Every now and then I’ll come up with an idea for a new product or for ways to improve a product. Some of them are simple and some are complex. Obviously, I’m sure that I’m not the only one to come up with the same idea. If you come up with an idea that you are convinced could be successful if developed into a real product, how do you go about making that product without getting screwed? Right now, I have an idea for the development of not just a video game, but what could turn into a whole new genre of video games. If I chose to pursue the creation of my vision of a product, I wouldn’t even know where to start. Have any of you come up with an idea that you believed in so much that you actually pursued the creation of the product? I know that people come up with great ideas all of the time, but how many people actually go from idea to action?
Tell me the idea then I'll let you know... In seriousness, there seems to be a variety of things I would do, though this is all coming from someone that has never done any of this, but it seems logical: Very first step, though, should be making sure you fleshed out your idea all that you can on your own. Try and find industry info, do a lot of google searches, etc. Then, you could potentially approach a patent lawyer. I haven't ever done it, but I'd imagine you get what you pay for. You could end up dishing out some cash, but you'll probably get a good patent lawyer. You clearly want to look into the engineering of it. As far know, concepts are patentable, but it becomes very wishy washy at that point. It would certainly be better if you had the actual schematics behind the design. You could look into writing a full or partial business plan. This will help you in case you need to get a loan or funding from else-where. Just some ideas. A couple of years ago I had an idea for a small tv (5-10 inch lcd) that essentially just played the same thing that was being shown on a bigger tv in the house. The idea was to be able to take this to the bathroom, in the tub, sitting down so you can see sports closer...maybe with some preset replay buttons, etc. Anyway, I pursued it a bit, looked into manufacturing out of East Asia with a friend, etc., but didn't get past that much. I was picturing a $100 - $200 device. Now Sony and Microsoft have these things that go for a couple g and do all that plus are computers, etc.
I actually saw something similar to this that was at Sharper image where you could take this TV into the shower and it would show cable television transmitted wirelessly to the TV. I think it was only a couple hundred bucks as well. I thought it was a really cool idea.
Yes, my other great idea, which I'll post here as well because I am 1,000,000,000,000% confident I will never follow-up on is a little more cost prohibitive: Essentially, to me, all a Subway sandwich stores is is a lunch/dinner spot assembly line. At the busy store, once person does the bread, one person does the meat and cheese, one the veggies, etc. There is no reason (other than the enormous amount of R&D involved) that all the Subway stores in Houston owned by the same franchisor, for example, can't just a big machine that makes your sandwich for you after you punch in what you want, puts it in a little spot ready for you to take once you pay, let's you pay with credit or cash, then gives you your sandwhich. Say there are 10 franchises owned by the same guy, he can now cut down his work for to 2 to 3 people tops, each responsible for making sure the machines at 3-5 places have enough food/bread in them and are working properly. Ok, now go make it and sell it to Subway!
ive got a relative in Sharp and they've been working on it for the past year or two, will probably be a little more expensive when it comes out though.
I don't know the exact steps, but I believe it goes something like this: 1. Get a development team together (programmers/artists). 2. Make some kind of playable demo (at least). 3. Show the demo to game publishers (like EA, atari, etc..) 4. If the game publishers like it, then they'll provide you funding to finish the game. 5. Once the game is done, the publisher will advertise and distribute the game to the stores. Overall, I don't think the developer ever gets that much money. Most of it goes to the publisher. But such is life.. If you're interested, a site with a lot of good game development resources is www.gamedev.net. I am developing a game in my spare time too. It's not anything great, mostly it's just for my own personal knowledge. It's kind of like a first-person shooter type game. I use Direct3D to render all the graphics.
Thanks for the help. JayZ that was very helpful advice and that's a cool story that you actually pursued your idea. It looks like it was a very good idea. It's funny to have an idea that I think is great and is useful, but not knowing if it would of use in general or if it's a bad idea alltogether. I had an idea years ago that I never pursued because I couldn't see a way that I could make much money off of it. I actually saw a version of it this Christmas. When I first got on the internet, I was extremely scared to buy stuff online with a credit card because I didn't want to be abused through theft or multiple charges. My idea was to have a credit card that you could buy, kind of like a phone card. After the balance was spent, you would just throw it away. It's never in "Your Name" so there's no long term commitment if it's stolen or abused. There were versions of it, but it wasn't widely accepted like Visa or MC. Anyway, this Christmas I was given a gift that was basically a $25 gift card, but it worked as a VISA card. It was exactly my idea the way I had envisioned it. Using it is another story, because it doesn't work as well as I had hoped, but it was great to see the idea come to fruition.
Those things are gaining popularity these days. It's like a gift card that is to no place in particular. AMerican Express has them too. Of course, you have to start asking yourself what's the point...why not just give them cash...but you can't order stuff online with cash.
Don't think it is that easy. I strongly suspect that you would actually have to make an entire game, give it away for free, and make a name for yourself (or your team actually). Approaching a publisher or development game company at that point for your next game becomes feasible.
Mr great idea: A mall music CD store with zero inventory, a broadband connection to the internet, CD burners, and some sort of print facility (for front and back cover and any linear notes). Buying CDs would become like buying a What-A-Burger. You pay for your order and wait two minutes for the crack team in back to assemble your CD. Out-of-print CDs would be a story you could tell your grandkids
Solid idea... You could theoretically do the same with blockbuster. When you sign up, you get 5 re-writeable DVD's for $X. Then you just bring those with you when you rent a movie, find what you want, pop it in a get it written on. The DVD has some sort of unique id marker so that it won't let you just bring in any old DVD, you have to bring in one of the 5 you originally bought.
That's pretty much how it works in Saudi. I go to the cd desk, the guy disapears for a couple of minutes, and then comes back with a little package with two pieces of paper (front and back of the pc game box) and two pretty HOT cds. HOT in the sense of temperature, because they are right off the burner.
I was eating raw cookie dough for breakfast in college long before eating raw cookie dough was cool. If only I had thought to put it in ice cream and sell it.
I'm an IP attorney, so I'll try to help. Depending on what your idea is, you need to determine what form(s) of IP protection, if any, are best for you. If you do seek a patent then my best advice for you is to be very careful if you decide to use an invention promotion company. Most are scams. Also do a search for your idea. Google the ideas and see what you get. Also go to the USPTO website and do a preliminary search yourself. There's no use spending tens of thousands of dollars on a patent when what you invented is already out there. Make you keep track of what you find though; if you do decide to seek a patent, the patent attorney may ask for your research to file what's called an "information disclosure statement." ------------------------------------ Here is also some advice from a fellow IP attorney: An Inventor's Chance of Success Sometimes an inventor asks about their chance of success. If they are using an invention promotion company, I would say their chance of success would be better if they bought lottery tickets. However, we have noticed some statistics that are useful in this evaluation. Our usual practice is to do a patent search, then file a patent application. Then in the years that follow, we help the inventor get trademarks, negotiate license agreements, and possibly file followup patent applications. Over a period of time, we have observed some general statistics, which of course do not take into account if the product is a good idea, if the invention is at the right time, if it can be built for a price to make its sale price attractive, if the inventor is competent to get it to market, design it, hire the right people at the right time, etc. Just looking at numbers, here are the numbers: 100. Of every 100 inventions we do patent searches on, about 60 percent of them turn out to have patentable subject matter. 50. Of those 60 searches, about 50 of them go ahead with a patent application. 45. Of those 50 applications, about 45 of them result in issued patents. 25. Of those 45 issued patents, about 25 inventors do nothing with the invention, or are not successful. They may run out of energy, inspiration, time, dedication, or they may make dumb mistakes about marketing, packaging, designing, unable to find a licensee, or run out of money. 20. Out of the 45 issued patents, about 20 inventors do some kind of test marketing. 5. Of the 20 that do test marketing, about 5 will fail. The item may not sell for the price they have to get in order to make a profit, or people may not be interested in the product. 15. Of the 20 that do test marketing, about 15 are at least marginally successful. 10. Of the 15 that experience marginal success, about 10 will quit for lack of interest, resources, dedication, inspiration, changes in circumstance. Some of these could have been saved if the inventors could learn from purchasers what they really want in this kind of product, and if the inventor can change his product. Most inventors don't realize how long it takes to make a product a success, and don't have the stamina to follow it through. 3 and 2. Of the 5 that are left of the 20 who did test marketing, about 3 will grow into successful single product businesses, and 2 will license their product to a larger company. Those numbers should tell one that of 50 patent applications that are filed, 45 result in issued patents. Those are good odds. Of those 45, 5 end up being quite profitable. That is 5 out of the 50 that started the process to get a patent, or 10%. Those are not bad odds, if the return is worth the risk. The inventor has a good deal of control over his chances of success, by eliminating as many uncertainties about the project as possible, and developing good intelligence on which projects to pursue. So if the inventor only pursues projects that have a good potential market, can be made cheaply enough to keep the sale price within what buyers will pay, and that people actually want, they have improved their odds quite a bit. If they have figured out how to market it, by test marketing, showing at trade shows, getting some good marketing materials, having a nice looking design, they have further increased their odds. http://patentpending.blogs.com/patent_pending_blog/ ------------------------------------ Finally, the USPTO website for independent inventors: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/index.htm Good luck.
I saw something on the History Channel about Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone. The public and various companies viewed the telephone as nothing more than a novelty and it took alot of PR and clever marketing by Bell and his guys to make the phone really take off and gain acceptance from the general public and corporate America alike. Had Bell been discouraged, who knows how modern communication would have developed. So go for it, and good luck.
