How to bring an electronic product to market?

[hob97]

Lets say that I was the first person to come up with the idea of the MP3 player (one electronic product that can hold thousands of songs.) I received a patent pending status for a provisional patent. What would be some of my first steps to getting this idea to market?
I am asking this question because I have a revolutionary idea for an electronic product but I feel like there are so many different routes I can go to bring this idea to market. I have a provisional patent but I don't know how to build it. All I have are computerized renderings.

[rickie]

Maybe go talk to someone at a company that produces this type of product and negotiate with them. As you are talking, have a notepad handy so you can take notes of what he/she says. Get all the info down of who you talk to, time, place, subject, etc. There are entire books written about this, you should probably get one and read it before you do anything further.

[osryd]

First you need to understand there is no such thing as a "provisional patent". There is a "provisional APPLICATION" for a patent that merely reserves your right to file a patent application within a year. You have no legal rights until and unless you file a non-provisional patent, have it examined and issued with claims to the invention originally disclosed in the provisional.

You would need to be extremely careful about who learns of your "patent pending", knowing that anyone who knows about it can simply go make their own version, hoping that you (a) won't notice, or (b) won't ever get your patent issued or enforce it.

Look into non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to create an obligation of confidentiality with anyone (other than your own lawyer) who may need to know about your invention.

[aviya]

Scott:

Have your lawyer ALSO sign an NDA... There are MANY slimeball lawyers out there and even MORE AWESOME ones.... So take care.. Just like there are MANY golfers.. but only a few guys like Tiger Woods...

Get a feee NDA to start with here..


http://provisionalpatentvideo.com/patent-instructions/Provisional_Patent/Patent.html


PM me if you need help getting your product moving...