As the saying goes, “everyone has ideas.” So how do you make sure your idea stands out from the rest? The answer is simple. Make sure your invention or business idea will stand out from the rest by CHOOSING the right one to take forward.

Welcome to the second part of our 10-part series, researching your great idea(s). From here on out we’ll focus on inventions and products, although similar steps would apply to researching a business idea.

So hopefully by now, you have a long list of ideas, some good and some bad. It’s time to separate the men from the boys, or in this context, the good from the bad. If we were all rich, had thousands of people working for us, and have 48 hours in the day, then we could take all those ideas forward. Unfortunately, we have limited time, limited resources, and just a one-man team (and if you’re lucky, a partner).

So pick a few of your inventions that you think have the best potential. What does potential mean? Potential means:

1. Easy to design and manufacture
2. You don’t think anyone is already doing it
3. Most likely to sell

Frequently this means really “revolutionary” ideas will be weeded out. That’s actually a good thing, because revolutionary ideas are significantly more risky of being failures, more costly to produce, and receive lesser acceptance from consumers. So leave your flying car, robot maid, and breakfast-making machine behind with the Jetsons.

Now that you have your All-Star team of inventions, start researching each one of them more thoroughly.

Use Google, Yahoo, and other search engines to find similar or competing products. Browse eBay, Amazon, and other shopping sites. Be sure to search different terms, descriptions, since it may be called different names (Kleenex or tissue?). Similar or competing products can be a good thing, because it means consumers will buy your product if it is an upgrade. Take notes of everything you find, price points, and where you found it. Don’t forget to browse our virtual invention trade show to make sure your idea isn’t there!

Most likely you’ll find products that perform the exact same function as some of your ideas, so cross those ideas off your list.

Now to make sure that if you did invent this great product, you will own the patent rights. Don’t know what the difference is between provisional patents, utility patents, and trademarks?

At this early stage, you can perform a quick patent search yourself. Before you start searching, save yourself some headaches and read our quick and simple tutorial on patent searches.

Two great places to perform patent searches are the Google Patent Search and the United States Patent & Trademark Office patent search tool. Each has its pros and cons, so try both and take notes, you’ll need them later when you talk to an attorney.

One note, this patent search is not meant to replace a patent search performed by a professional, but only serve as a preliminary check to help you CHOOSE the best idea to take forward.

All your research should help you get a better idea on what’s out there. The goal is to narrow your list to a single invention because that’s the one with the best potential to succeed. If you try to develop more than one invention, most likely you’ll run out of time, money, and energy before either goes anywhere. Follow the advice we’ve heard from all the experts, pick one and go for it! Now it’s time to take inventing seriously.

Talk about market research and Patent Searches in our discussion forum.

To Be Continued…

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