That all depends on what it will be made out of and its function....that's a wide open question.

I'd contact someone like Tim Mezel. He seems to be a very decent guy that does mods as a hobby.

Building a tool tray?

an ashtray

Pinmunch(tm)?

Fleshlight holder??

Thanks, I just about snarfed some soda....

Quarter holder ?

First i thought fumbleflippers mispelled it but then i googled it .

I have CAD experience. Both 2D and 3D.

Very fluent in solidworks, can create a 3d model and create a 2d print.

Whatever it is make the amount you think will sell then sell them all before someone else steals the idea.
At least that way you get a good amount of the market share before the copycats jump on board.

That will cost you more money than it is worth that is why there are so many copycats.

I think he meant litigation will cost you more, not the actual patent.
Also manufacturers in China and other countries tend to not give a flying F about copyrights.

In word only, but good luck trying to sue a Chinese manufacturer for copyright infringment.

Whatever it is, if it's cool and affordable, I'll buy one or a dozen depending.

Pin Spittoon

hand pads so you dont slip and face plant the glass

Lockdown bar drink holders, no more banged up knees and forgetting your beer when switching games

You sure are, lawyer up and deal with the international courts.
Steve C. made the boards up for the lighted star posts but showed the prototype to the wrong person and that guy made them up and sold them.
Now there are others making the same thing.
I have made a couple prototype mods and the only people that have them are the people that bought the games.
"You should make these and sell them".
I just laughed.
If you are going to do it don't let anyone know, just make a bunch and supply them before the copycats can steal it.
They will buy one from you to copy.
There is no honor among thieves.

Can you make a prototype? When we are making a new part for our Virtual Pins we first make a prototype and then take it to a large scale fabrication shop that has a device that can scan the image then laser cut, bend & weld. We now manufacture our own hinges, legs, rails, lock bars and a few other misc parts in bulk.

You can also invest in a 3D printer if there are plastic parts involved. Have parts made at separate locations that way it can't be easily copied right away.

To do a patent right you are at $20-40K

I hope it all works out for you. Innovation is a wonderful thing.

Good luck!!

Patents are a waste of time and money for niche products and niche markets. Time to market and constant improvement is what drives sales. Market protection via patent is worthless because you don't have friends at the State department to cry to the Chinese government.

I think that would be in the coin door more so than the lockdown bar. Unless you are super tall.

"It's not cool... it's Logicool©®℠™"

Dual armpit fans it is.

At least I wasn't the only one.

My advise is to find a "maker" to partner with. Someone who can create 3d models.. then you have to find someone to make it. Techshop.ws is a great example of a possible win for you... maybe there is a "hacker space" near you you could find people to help out.

For a simple mechanical device, you could get a patent for $5-10K. PM me if you want a referral. If you are even thinking about patenting, do not disclose the invention to anyone without having a non-disclosure agreement in place. It may sound like overkill, but making disclosures pre-patent filing can destroy your rights. Having an NDA also protects against you taking your idea to someone and them appropriating it for their own use. If anyone wants to see a great (and fairly accurate) movie on patent law, see "Flash of Genius" about the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper blade.

I could write a dissertation on the ins and outs of making pinball parts. I could also point out some statements in this thread that are blatantly false, but I'd like to think the readers a bit more savvy than some would care to admit.

If I have anything to add to this thread it's this:

If you release a product you carry the risk that someone else will copy your design. Patent or not. Copyright or not. That's just the nature of the internet world we live in. My designs have been copied. I understand the nature of the game and I plan accordingly.

Also, if you DON'T release a product, or you take too long to develop a product, you carry the risk that someone else will come up with the same (or similar) product and beat you to market. Don't EVER think that you are SO clever that you are the only person to have ever come up with an idea. It is absolutely humbling to know how much of what we think we know of today was thought up DECADES ago.

The only thing that you can do as an inventor, engineer, or modder is to get your product to market as QUICKLY as you can, make it the BEST you can, SUPPORT it the best you can, for as LONG as you can. Hopefully you'll make some money out of it and want to do it again.

Also, if you plan to jump in the business (with or without a patent, or copyright), just plan on keeping an eye to the future. Make sure you have an upgrade path, something to keep your product fresh and current and ahead of any "copiers". That's about all you can do.

Good luck and I hope we all get to see what you came up with sometime in the near future!

Yes, the new patent law as of a year ago is "first to market", but it also needs to be backed by patents. Prior art doesn't apply anymore.

I've heard that as well but I suspect this is more a case that the patent office relies more on peer review to file disputes against patent applications than them going out and trying to actually discover the prior art (if it exists outside of the patent system).

Just a slight correction so people aren't confused. It is first to file, not first to market. It doesn't matter whether you invented first anymore in the US (that was the old law). The new law is that the first one to file a patent application in the patent office wins the patent, even if you invented second. (In this way, the law in the US is now more consistent with the rest of the world.) There are some exceptions. For example, you must be an inventor and cannot have derived your idea from another.

Prior art applies. But think of prior art as short hand for everything that was public that came before your invention. Your invention must be new and not obvious over the prior art.

The patent office is actually quite adept at searching the prior art. That doesn't mean that they don't miss things. They do. They are humans after all. What they have more difficulty with is knowing about prior art sales information as opposed to prior art published patents.

Yes sorry, typed that wrong. First to file, meaning even if you have prior art, if you sit on it, it's worthless.

Of course, if they grant you the patent with one already covering it, then you can get into battle with the original patent owner who will challenge your patent to knock you out, unless you can alter your patent to make it distinguishably different enough to be separate.

I just stumbled on prototyping services offered by pinball life. Good luck!
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=3421

Definitely have the contract partner (manufacturer/artist/designer, etc.) sign a "work for hire" agreement agreeing that you own all of the rights and any potential client/licensee/buyer sign an NDA. Just know that an NDA or NCA is not a fail-safe document. They can be written with details or lacking details that do not fully protect you and ignored by courts if/when you get into litigation. Your real protection is not an NDA but rather your intellectual property filing. You want to write and file a Provisional Patent Application (PPA) which costs as little as $65 for a Micro entity; that will give you IP protection and allow you to use the term "Patent Pending" for 12 months. During that time you are protected. Sell the product and then decide if it's worth spending the $ and converting it into a Non-Provisional patent before the year ends. This will save you a ton of money and give you an opportunity to validate your idea.

That's what I would and do, do.

Best of luck!

Kevin

Cool thread.
-mof

Be really careful of writing your own provisional patent application. If you don't have the right legal disclosure, you're not going to get your priority date. If you are really interested in protecting your IP and want to get a patent, hire a reasonably priced but competent patent attorney to write and file the application for you.

If your idea isn't a smartphone mount so you can record your games, then it should be...