Do you need a patent before you build a prototype?

Claims are written around specific structure and function. Before you have built anything, you are describing an intention. After three iterations you know which feature does the work, which alternatives you tried, and which embodiments are worth claiming. Attorneys write stronger applications from that material, and it costs less because you are not paying them to imagine the device with you.

In the US you have a one-year grace period after your own public disclosure to file. Most other countries have no grace period at all, so a public disclosure before filing can end your foreign rights permanently. If international matters to you, file before you show anyone outside an NDA.

A provisional application is a relatively cheap way to lock in a filing date and get twelve months to develop and decide. It is only as good as what it describes, so a provisional filed on a napkin sketch protects a napkin sketch. The common sequence that works: prototype enough to know what the invention is, file a provisional on that, keep developing during the twelve months, then file the non-provisional with what you learned.

The invention is a method or a chemistry, where the concept is the invention. You must present publicly, pitch on stage or launch a crowdfunding page soon. You are in a crowded space where a competitor is visibly working on the same thing. Foreign rights matter and you cannot control who sees the device.

We build prototypes under NDA and coordinate with your patent attorney, including drawings that support a filing. Start with our free trademark search and idea analyzer , or read what an invention prototype costs . Proof from our own work: the Hand Tennis Glove went from a founder sketch to a working, testable product before any tooling money was spent.