We are habitually asked the same question by all types of inventors: “I have an idea, but I am incapable of turning it into anything on my own. I am going to need to find help. What should I do to make sure I protect my idea?”
Patent lawyers will immediately tell you that ideas cannot be patented. Alternatively, you may be told that “It doesn’t sound like you have anything that could be protected.”
We, too, have had to explain to many inventors that there is no way to know whether there is an invention lurking or whether the person merely has an undeveloped idea without any understanding about how to bring it into being. Therefore, this question begs the crucial inquiry, which is: At what point does an idea take enough form to be measured as an invention that can be protected? Often, an invention can be well-defined and qualify for protection earlier than you think. At a minimum, it is not a requirement for patent protection that you have a working prototype. However, you must have what is called “reduction to practice.”
So how do you decide whether you have a mere idea, an early concept, or an idea that has been “reduced to practice”? That is a difficult question to answer and one that has few, if any, bright line rules or useful oversimplifications.
To give you an idea of how to answer the question, use the following as a guide: if you can teach the invention on paper or list steps which would result in a working prototype, you have then reduced it to practice. If it might work but requires a little experimentation to get it right, then the amount of experimentation required will determine whether it is reduced to practice or not.
What is the reasoning behind this? In order to file a patent application, you need to be able to teach others how to make and use the invention. This is the quid pro quo the government offers; i.e., a 20-year monopoly on the invention in exchange for the knowledge. Therefore, proofs on paper accompanied by written text explaining the particulars is enough to satisfy patent law in the United States.
It is important to document everything. Dedicate a notebook to your idea. Write it down. As you develop it, write that down in the same notebook. You may get to a point where the only parts missing are what a good engineer knows to make and use your invention.
In conclusion, a warning to the wise. Simply because you will need help, doesn’t mean you do not have an invention worth defending. Almost all inventors will need the assistance of patent attorneys, industrial design engineers who build from engineering drawings and/or CAD drawings, to those who will handle the manufacturing and distribution. The key is to take accountable steps as early as possible to understand what you have, to know what others have, and then to define your idea so that the core exclusivity can be appreciated. When you can do that, it is reasonably safe to say that you no longer have an idea but an invention.
Cheerful inventing!