Need advice on how to turn my simple concept into an essential piece of sports equipment!

**Stansy** · 08-08-2010 05:27 PM

Hey everyone, I am new on the site. I am only 16 years old but I have big aspirations for the future, which brings me here. I have a idea for a piece of sports equipment that I see a need for. I can't go that much into detail but it is intended for hockey players. It can be used off ice and I see it as essential in improving skills without having to go on the ice.

With that said let me fill you in on where I'm at currently. As of now it is only an idea in my head, I have nothing physical like a prototype of anything but I need advice as what to do next.......

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I have a name for it and a basic design for what it will look like.

**Pseudo Mod** · 08-22-2010 04:29 AM

I was doing some research on patents just today. Lucky for you, patent pending status is about $200. A true patent is about $2000. I say file for patent pending status, buy a logo or just start an LLC and save a couple hundred bucks. It shows investors you have at least taken the initiative. A journey to one thousand miles begins with the first step. Rooting for ya!

**crate** · 08-22-2010 06:58 AM

Sorry, the above post is wrong.
I have just filed for a patent and can actually tell you that in the UK it is £280 to search the worldwide patents to make sure it does not already exist.
Then it is close to £1000 to get the patent idea written up (legally and by a law professional)

So unless there is real merit in the idea, a patent is not worth it at this point.

Stansy, I am actually a product designer specialising in CAD and, if you agree, I would like to discuss this further with you and help you in verifying if this is a good investment to spend some hard earned cash upon. We can do this over a NDA (a legal document) to prove that the idea is yours.

I will also PM you my e-mail, so if this sounds good to you, get me a reply back

Regards,
Darren

**questeds** · 08-23-2010 07:58 AM

Patenting the idea is important, just don't bother doing it for the US. I friend of mine looked into it for a physio prototype, and including the states made it tenfold. If you are going to progress it, you are going to need advice and assistance. have a look online, you should be able to find a basic confidentiality agreement, which should keep most people honest!!!

**InvenToy** · 08-30-2010 07:30 AM

If you manage to generate any funding I know of a pre-prototype CAD company based in Australia. These guys can produce CAD designs that can be fed straight into the prototype machines etc. They also have liinks to a British run prototype manaufacturing company in central China.

**watsa** · 09-04-2010 11:28 AM

I agree that a patent is the first step you'll want to take.

Once you have the patent I would recommend against manufacturing it yourself. Find a hockey equipment company with a good distribution network and license it to them and collect a royalty.

Many entrepreneurs want to manufacture and distribute products on their own, but they fail to realize how difficult and expensive this is. By licensing you can reach a large market very quickly, potentially make hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in a few years and then you can reinvest that money into another venture that you own entirely on your own.