Inventing for Dummies

By Pamela Riddle Bird and Philip Robinson

Full coverage of the ins and outs of inventing for profit

Protect your idea, develop a product - and start your business!

Did you have a great idea? Did you do anything about it? Did someone else? Inventing For Dummies is the smart and easy way to turn your big idea into big money. This non-intimidating guide covers every aspect of the invention process - from developing your idea, to patenting it, to building a prototype, to starting your own business.

The Dummies Way
* Explanations in plain English
* "Get in, get out" information
* Icons and other navigational aids
* Tear-out cheat sheet
* Top ten lists
* A dash of humor and fun


Discover how to:
* Conduct a patent search
* Maintain your intellectual property rights
* Build a prototype product
* Determine production costs
* Develop a unique brand
* License your product to another company

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764542311
• ISBN13: 9780764542312
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: For Dummies
• Length: 358 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A GREAT START FOR INVENTORS!

Pam has used her considerable experience well in writing this book. I've recommended her as a consultant for several years and it's a pleasure to see how much she's been able to pack into the book. As both an inventor and a consultant, I'm confident that every inventor can learn something they didn't know from Pam. Blan McBride

how to protect an invention; not how to make one

The book offers a good explanation to the tyro of what it takes to protect your invention. The book is not really about inventing, per se. Despite what the title says. A careful read of the contents reveals relatively little discussion about the raw inventing process. That is, how does one come up with an original idea that can be patentable? It may well be that such a question has no answer. Rather, the book's contribution is to show the reader that, if you make something that you think is worth patenting, what are the necessary steps to do so. It explains how you can protect your invention from others. It focuses on steps that can be specifically described to you, and then performed by you. Like how to file a Provisional Patent Application. And how you can now do this electronically. (Which wasn't always the case.) While some of these steps are unique to the United States, in general they apply in most countries. There is also a brief discussion about copyright issues in the book. But it is tangential to the main topic.