May I enquire; have you addressed the pre-requisite steps of determining if this product or something close to it already exists, or if there is a market for it?

It would be necessary to have a bit more info about what the invention is before I’d suggest ways to get a cost estimate. Is it a household gadget? Or a machine shop tool? How complicated is it? Would it need electronics in it? Is it ‘one piece’ or a whole bunch of pieces that have to be individually manufactured and then assembled by hand? etc. etc.

Alice, I suggest that you go to the “Price & Profits and Manufacturing Location” forum.

Bobb, I don’t believe there is anything like on the market and yes, I know that is a very much needed product. It’s a baby care item. It is very uncomplicated – one or two parts molded together and covers. By the way if the item is patented, can anyone make covers for it or do I hold that right as a patent holder?

Julie, thanks for the suggestion. I realised I posted in wrong section, but too late. Can I move my topic there?

Good suggestion, Julie. Here’s the link, Alice.

http://www.edisonnation.com/forums/branding-sla...

Thanks guys. Derek, I checked out the sites. Those are great resources! I will definately use them. Who is Conor?

If you are confident that you have a marketable concept I would see a patent attorney and consult there first. You may be in a good position to start the provisional patent process. After that I would work on non disclosure and non compete forms to use when getting production estimates. Then contact companies about potential manufacturing. If it is truly an easily manufactured product it shouldn’t be that hard to come up with production cost estimates. I would make sure that the estimates were based on large volume runs in order to get an attractive production cost. The production cost is critical in trying to determine if the project is a good opportunity or not. After all it needs to be made inexpensively enough that it would retail at an appropriate price point. I would say a good rule of thumb for this type of product is that the product needs to withstand four to five times mark up from production cost to retail price. If it passes that gauge it would be one good indicator to move forward. If you were looking to sell or license your idea there were be a few more steps.

Also don’t forget to address the covers. I would say the more products the merrier. You could have a product line instead of a single product. That might be attractive to potential licensees or retailers. Not to mention reoccurring revenue or more branding potential.

Thanks Kenny. I am familiar with non disclosure forms, but never heard of non compete forms. What are those? Thanks again – very helpful info to follow!

I too would like to know about non compete forms. Also can you tell me where good ones can be found? Thank you :0)

A non compete form is a contract that says whomever you are showing your project to wont go into a competitive business using your proprietary information to sell a product like yours. I have these documents and would be glad to share them with both of you.

Kenny, would you share the steps I need to take if I wanted to license my idea(s)?

oh and also what do you mean by “covers”?

" It’s a baby care item. It is very uncomplicated – one or two parts molded together and covers."

If you wanted to license you would want to have formal market research in order to fully understand your market. I would want competitive product analysis. You would need some form of marketing material to present your idea. You would also need to know what companies would be good potential licensees and who to contact at each of the companies. You would also need to know what financial terms are appropriate in your industry based on previous deals. My preference is to start licensing negotiations with my own document, so I would also want my own license agreement template. This all sounds like a lot however I believe licensing offers the most reward for the least amount of financial exposure and is usually the most appropriate route for Individuals who have IP.

You would also need the previous steps mentioned above, a few others too.