Not a new idea.

[toopie]

What is the name of your state? California

Regarding patents -

the idea I have is not a start from scratch idea, it's basically putting 2 items into one. Example: like the TV and VCR in one (2 separate items, put together)

So an item is already out there, I just have the idea on how to make it better.

Is that something that can be done. Do I need to get permission from the companies that own the product/patent before I can continue. Or can I make my own creation that will be similar to the items that are out there. Does that make sense?

 

[divgradcurl]

Combinations of existing products are generally patentable, if they otherwise meet the criteria for patentablility -- novel, nonobvious, etc. However, it's oftentimes difficult to obtain a patent for the combination of existing products unless the new combination provides "unexpected" benefits. Combining a TV and a VCR would likely not meet the threshold for nonobviousness, unless the combination somehow caused something "unexpected" to happen. It's kind of hard to explain, but basically, combinations or grouping of existing items themselves usually do not meet the patentability requirements on their own, unless nobody would ever think to combine the objects and the combination created something "unexpected. If combining a TV and a VCR resulted in a TV/VCR combo, that would not be "unexpected" -- if, however, the combination of a TV and VCR could aldso, say, cure cancer, that WOULD be unexpected, and therefore the combination would be patentable for the purposes of curing cancer. However, people could still combine TVs and VCRs for the purposes of recording TV shows. I realize this is an absurd example, but it's illustrative.

Do I need to get permission from the companies that own the product/patent before I can continue.

You do not need permission to invent the combo and patent it (if it is patentable), but you might need permission to actually manufacture and sell the product, depending on what underlying patents and trademark exists.