idea to improve a product

[sbever]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IN
Hello,
I have an idea to improve an existing product. The product is a universally used item. How do I go about getting a patent on it? Do I need to make a prototype of the actual product? Does anyone have a reputable site I could go to for more information on the steps I need to take?

Thanks for any and all help.
Sandy

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IN
Hello,
I have an idea to improve an existing product. The product is a universally used item. How do I go about getting a patent on it? Do I need to make a prototype of the actual product? Does anyone have a reputable site I could go to for more information on the steps I need to take?

Thanks for any and all help.
Sandy

The United States Patent and Trademark Office, accessible through http://www.uspto.gov, is one site you can go to for more information on patenting a product.

There are also several threads available for review through this site. You can check the FA archives - https://forum.freeadvice.com/archive/index.php/f-104.html - and look particularly for posts made by "divgradcurl."

divgradcurl is an IP attorney and, although he doesn't post to FreeAdvice very often any more, his advice is as good as it gets. To start you off, some of divgradcurl's posts from the archives that you may find helpful are:

https://forum.freeadvice.com/patents-104/patent-existing-product-342761.html
https://forum.freeadvice.com/patents-104/new-product-341294.html
https://forum.freeadvice.com/patents-104/slight-change-another-product-my-new-product-390016.html

divgradcurl always recommends sitting down with a patent attorney to go over your plans, and this is wise advice and I advise it as well.

Good luck.