[ale] OT: Manufacturing an idea....

[Christopher R. Curzio]

No.

If the item is fresh off the diagram sheet, a single prototype exists, and
you don't have suppliers for the parts yet, why would you even CONSIDER
taking orders? Plus, no bank would give any crackpot with a napkin sketch
of their invention to "get started"... not to imply you're a crackpot,
John; I'm speaking from the bank's point of view.

And eBay? For a product that has just reached the prototype phase? That's
the worst advice ever. You're giving your idea away to the entire
internet, giving anyone the chance to duplicate it and beat you to
development, Plus, an auction? You're not even selling anything. What
would you tell bidders? "This isn't a real auction; I'm gauging interest
in my potential product." Unless of course you plan on selling the
prototype, but erm, why?

Seriously. Real advice would be to talk to a lawyer first; one who knows
patents. As for suppliers and manufacturers, it depends on what it is
you're planning to make. If you tell a company that makes and supplies
electronic components in bulk, typically you can give their sales
department a call and say "Look, I'm considering mass-producing $widget,
and I'm considering using your $doodad. You think you could send me over a
lender sample of $doodad to see if it fits my needs?" If you plan to make
lots of your $widget, they'll enjoy the idea of being your supplier and
they'll typically send you a single demo unit of their $doodad. 

As for custom manufacturing, I'm not entirely sure about that. I would
definitely say to talk to a lawyer first, so that you can establish that
this is your idea, and you're considering taking it to this company to
find out about custom manufacturing it. So that way if they turn you down,
and a year later they introduce $wadget, you can say "wait a minute!"

Legal security of your idea is the first step, not the prototype. Good
luck.

-- 
Christopher R. Curzio     |  Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax
http://www.accipiter.org  |  si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
:wq!




Thus Spake tom hawks <tomhawks801 at yahoo.com>:
Wed, 14 May 2003 07:22:48 -0700 (PDT)


> Building a prototype is the first step. If you can
> shop it around and maybe spark some interest and
> possibly an order, banks would be likely to lend you
> the money to get started. What you could do is stick
> it on Ebay to guage the interest level.
> 
> tom
> --- John Wells <jb at sourceillustrated.com> wrote:
> > As I know at least one of you (Bergeron) is going
> > through this right
> > now...
> > 
> > Say you have an idea for particular
> > invention/product, but this product
> > would require numerous electrical components and
> > assembly, or even
> > possibly custom component manufacture...where do you
> > start tracking down
> > suppliers/manufacturers?  What are the steps
> > involved in taking your
> > product from paper to prototype?
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > 
> > John
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> 
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