By Joe Gross
You have a moment of inspiration for a new product.
You do a quick sketch of your idea. It all looks like it might work and could make some money.
You conduct a patent search on uspto.gov or freepatentsonline.com or Google. So far, so good – it appears no one has thought of your idea yet. Just to make sure, you conduct furthermarket research.
And if you’re interested in obtaining a patent, you definitely hire a patent agent or patent attorney to conduct a professional search.
The next step: See if your invention actually works. You’ll need a prototype. Fear not – they don’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
You can save a bundle by building your own. It’s actually easy.
The first prototype of a new invention or product is called a proof of concept or POC prototype.
A POC prototype’s primary purpose is to prove that the idea actually works. It does not have to be pretty or look exactly like a finished product. It doesn’t even have to be made of the same materials as your finished product.
It just has to prove to you and potential customers, licensees, investors, etc., that your idea has merit and will perform the task you designed it will do.
Sir James Dyson, the British vacuum tycoon, built his first POC cyclone vacuum prototype out of cardboard and duct tape.
The best way to build your first prototype is to look at similar products to see how they’re built and what materials are used.
Most inventors today are not actually inventors, but innovators or product enhancers, which is still innovation. And in most cases, these improvements are novel and patentable.
The most obvious way to start on your do-it-yourself prototyping journey is to modify existing similar products with your improvements and test to see if your modifications improved the product.
If so, great! If not, so what?
Prototyping is a process, not a one-time thing. It often takes several POC versions, along with several modifications, to make a new product work as intended.
And remember, it’s usually best to tweak your prototype if it does not work, rather than to throw out the whole thing and keep starting from scratch.
If your POC prototype performs reasonably well, consider having a professional build the next version, what we call a design for manufacture or DFM prototype.
A DFM prototype usually is built after you have a professional designer or engineer refine your original POC prototype.
A lucky few are able to secure licensing deals using just their homebuilt prototypes. However, most product companies want you to at least have the invention or product to the point where you have worked out most of the bugs. So in most cases, you’ll need a DFM prototype – and a patent –to land a licensing deal.
I like to tell the members of our inventors group, Edison Inventors Association Inc., that inventing and new-product development is never easy, cheap, or quick. To be a successful innovator, you need passion and to be focused on your goals.
We have a sign in the R&D lab at my manufacturing business.
It reads:
“Make it simple, make it strong, and make it work!”
Keep that in mind when working on your idea.
Editor’s note: This article appears in the July 2011 print edition.
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