knife design question

[yoz's friend]

i have designed a couple of knives that i think are unique. what do i do next? Do i patent the design? Do I have protos made? what is my next step? Im not a knifemaker. thanks.

 

[Drew Riley]

Edit: On second thought, given your post history, I sincerely doubt this is a serious inquiry.

 

[yoz's friend]

actually it is. And i have a serious post history. Please dont judge me by whine and cheese where everybody goes to bust balls. Fair enough?

 

[kuraki]

Unless it's something like a novel lock mechanism for a folder you will probably have a hard time getting a patent.

 

[Drew Riley]

actually it is. And i have a serious post history. Please dont judge me by whine and cheese where everybody goes to bust balls. Fair enough?

Ok, you're right. My apologies.

Can I ask what's unique about you're designs?

Jumping straight from a design to a patent, or even a trademark is a pretty massive leap, especially given that you are not experienced at making the product which you have designed.
What is your design background? Are we talking a rough drawing on a cocktail napkin, or a full 3D workup in CAD/CAM with toolpaths mapped out?

Is this artistic in nature? Mechanical? Did you come up with a new lock mechanism?

It's really hard to suggest a next step without a little more information. Over there years that have been a LOT of posters (usually with a MUCH lower post count, and much more recent join date) who claim to have come up with the next big thing, but I don't recall ever seeing a legitimate example or anything that really panned out. One poster in particular introduced a folding knife that he had already spent 10's of thousands of dollars on for prototypes, only to find out that he really should have kept the idea on paper, or at least asked for advice before throwing so much time and money to a problem that really didn't exist or need solving.

Personally, if I design anything, my first step is to build a rough prototype and get the design from paper to hand. BUT, I have the tools, resources, and experience to do so. If I had to pay somebody else to do everything from scratch, I'd have a lot less projects laying around...

Since you're not a knife maker, I'd probably consult with some people who ARE knife makers, to see if your designs are even worth pursuing. There may be something to them that look good to you, but may not actually be viable for one reason or another. If the design is found to hold water, THEN I would think about getting it prototyped, and if it's truly unique, possibly look into a provisional patent, or applying for trademark from there.

 

[fishface5]

for a patent you need something functionally unique: axis lock, round opening hole, etc. If you were a maker you could also trademark (not patent) a design element (like Busse talon hole in guard).

 

[Drew Riley]

Unless it's something like a novel lock mechanism for a folder you will probably have a hard time getting a patent.

Agreed. It'd be interesting to see a list of all of the knife related patents. For "standard" knives, I'll bet there are very few, with the exception of locking or opening mechanisms, perhaps retention systems, or maybe a steel type or manufacturing process?.

More common would probably be trademarks, and the question for either would be whether it's worth the time and money to acquire or defend.

 

[Lefty Fencer]

There are at least two barriers to obtaining a patent most people do not think about. First, is prior art. The patent office has a file of all of the applications historically made. It is amazing how often somebody else has thought of something similar enough to disallow your concept. Sometimes it is just the drawings in another patent that can and are used to disallow your application. Ask me how I know!

Also, "Reduction to Practice" or making a working invention or model of you invention is considered a necessary step in the patent process. Conceiving of the invention and reduction to practice constitute the complete invention process. If you were to delay reducing your invention to practice and someone else conceived after you but reduced to practice first, they may well get the patent!

This is from an engineer who worked in a patent oriented industry. I have personally experienced Prior Art Rejections and received the benefit of later concept but first reduction to practice.

Get some files, mild steel and measuring instruments and make what you think works by hand. This is often more fun than the "Pride" of having the patent and it costs much less.....

 

[JTknives]

Obtaining a patent is difficult, it took allmost a year to get mine and many many thousands of dollars. And this was not even in the knife field but the gun industry as it was a suppressor design. A knife would be difficult becaus your have to prove prior art and improved over other known knives. This involves a patent lawyer and his expertise in the field.

Just make or have the blade made and enjoy it.

 

[KnuckleDownKnives]

Back in the 90's we patented the a fully articulated air ride fifth wheel systems. Took thousand and thousands of dollars and within a year we sold one to a customer who ended up copying it verbatim and selling them. Without thousand and thousands of dollars to pay lawyers and such there wasn't much we could do about it. You also have to keep it paid up to day for a certain amount of time to keep it renewed which costs more money. So other than the cool factor it's basically a huge PITA.

 

[jweber]

I work with IP lawyers regularly and have a few software related patents. The general bar is that it is something not obvious to someone skilled in the field. So the earlier examples of a novel locking mechanism might qualify, but simply a new pattern, probably would not. And yes, it's expensive to get one.