ausername said:
What is the name of your state? New York
I've got an idea for a new product, but no design expertise...If I hire a product design firm, can I still patent the invention?
Yes. An inventor is someone who comes up with the idea, or creative spark, or whatever. People working with or for the inventor who simply help the inventor "reduce to practice" the invention are not inventors, and have no right to be considered inventors in a patent application.
You should have an attorney draft a nondisclosure agreement that would be signed before the design firm starts working on the invention.
EDIT: Maybe I misread your question. It is certainly okay to hire others to help you work on your invention -- that's what companies are, after all! You just need to make sure that any "disclosure" of the invention that you make to noninventors, like the design firm, is done under a nondisclosure agreement or is otherwise protected, so that the one-year clock to file the application does not begin until YOU want it to.
