Hunting product idea...

I have an idea for a new hunting product. Is there a company I should talk to in order to build/market it? Should I do it myself? Do I need a patent or just a trademark?
Any help/advice you can give would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Dave

The hunting industry is a tough industry to be in and if you have a product that is good, you better patent it and cover it every way you can. Others will see your product and get around your patent quickly so time is important. Once your product is patent pending, it needs to be on the market selling ASAP. They don't know what your patent will read and won't copy it until they know they can avoid litigation. Starting a company is costly so another choice would be to sell the patent to someone who could make the product for you and pay you a royalty. This happens most of the time. Feel free to send me a PM with specific questions, I've been down the road you are thinking about going.

Selling it with royalties is a good direction to go. If you decide to produce it yourself though, you need to realize that the patent only gives you limited protection.

Been there and in fact still make most of my meager $ making and selling my patented product. Patent cost through an attorney was minimal (<10k) in the overall picture but not sure if I would go through the effort next time.

Probably would just file for the patent myself and though it would most certainly get rejected, it would still give me strong proof that it is my invention, I could list it as "patent applied for", and no one else could patent it and prevent me from manufacturing it. There is plenty of "patent it yourself" info out there to show you how.

Other than that, the only thing a patent really does for you is allow you to sue someone that copies your product. Very expensive course to follow even if it were a US company doing it...today it would almost certainly be a company in China or India etc. and unless your product is VERY lucritave, it is doubtful that it would be worth the cost to pursue. Most likely they would have changed it just enough that you would not win anyway.

Like I said, my only goal next time would be to position myself so that another "inventor" could not stop me from using my own idea.

I should add to the above response that it really didn't matter how much it would cost or how much trouble it was, I would have pursued that first patent anyway just for the satisfaction of knowing I had a patented idea!
Feels good still even after 15 years!

Are there any specific companies I should contact about making the product or just any in the industry?

Thanks for all the advice.

Dave

I had one that I went to Primos with and got a letter back that it would have to be something unique that others couldn't copy. I would suggest that if you send your idea to a company that you also make another copy of all information that you send them and send to yourself at the same time. That way you have a copy of it postmarked and un-opened.

j_seph said:

I had one that I went to Primos with and got a letter back that it would have to be something unique that others couldn't copy. I would suggest that if you send your idea to a company that you also make another copy of all information that you send them and send to yourself at the same time. That way you have a copy of it postmarked and un-opened.

Click to expand...

The aforementioned approach will not matter or provide protection in most instances, the exception may be if it is something like a sufficiently original camo pattern that can be protected by copyright (it would be protected under law when fixed in a tangible medium of expression and would have an application process to fulfill like a patent before protection attaches).

Dave:

You should do some reading on the internet to learn what a patent, trademark, and copyright protect.

I can tell you that you can expect to spend about $5,500-6,000 on the low end to prosecute a patent through counsel. If it gets thorny and you have to work really hard at it, like travel to DC to meet with the examiner, it gets more expensive. If you have a product that requires testing and approval by UL or ETL, that is an entirely different and expensive process.

My advice is to keep your mouth shut and proceed quietly. Everyone elses advice on here has been spot on.