In developing and marketing an innovation, one important decision is WHEN to produce a working prototype. As clues to your answer, consider the following:
- Do NOT build or buy a prototype while you are still in the conception stage. The exception would be if one can be made inexpensively, usually at home.
- First, conduct or contract a patent search. Finding it has been done negates the need to continue.
- You can patent it without having a working model (unless you think you have invented the first perpetual motion device or time machine).
- Once you have applied for a patent and attained patent pending status, you may begin marketing or licensing actions. At this stage you want to have the most persuasive high quality selling tools possible. A model helps, even if it will undergo redesign for appeal, ergonomics, and manufacturability before high-volume production occurs.
- Considering costs, you might choose to produce a "virtual prototype" using computer modeling and animation, which can be very attractive and professional - not to mention fit in a briefcase or pocket. And copies cost only pennies.
Machine shops, engineers, technicians, schools, artisans and other services advertise and are available to help make prototypes. Rapid prototyping machines can build a sample of extremely complex shapes in hours. Boise State University's Mechanical Engineering Department and TechHelp, Idaho's not-for-profit manufacturing assistance center, offer rapid prototypes - once the product design is in a computer file.
Machined parts, engineered breadboards, bench models, and extrusion molds can easily cost $5,000 to $50,000, and working assembled firsts can get into six and seven figures. If these are desired, Idaho SBDC can help find qualified services.