Hello all, I recently came u with an idea for a concept car that I think would revolutionize the car industry. Of course it would be a hybrid, but I have an idea that would make it even more useful. My question is, does anyone know how to go about something like this? I'm sure I would have to do a patent search, but not sure if I should present the idea to a major car company, or a concept car company. I would need someone to invest in the idea as far as prototypes and so forth. Any feedback would be helpful.

Thank you!

Davidd_nyc

David,

You wouldn't have to do a patent search at this point...generally speaking the whole car isn't patented, just various components of it and any unique features.

The car companies don't usually get involved with independents. They have their own concept car groups internally where they will develope ideas. If the car is going to be of limited production and they still feel interested enough they will contract with an outside company to build it. This is how the Ford GT came into being.

In the Detroit area there are a bunch of these companies, most of which I don't remember the names of but one I do remember was Cars & Concepts. I believe they were located in Brighton, MI.

Roush, Saleen, Shelby, Vector and a bunch of others might also be places to start. They do a lot of contract work with the car companies. If your idea is that unique you might want to have an attorney draw up a NDA before you go talking to companies. In many cases, they may require one to protect themselves.
Good luck
Denny

Hi David,

It is not clear whether you hope to eventually patent the Design for a hybrid car (how it looks) as opposed to its guts or utilitarian attributes (door, springs, frame, engine, suspension system, brakes, driveshaft, or a new combo for the above).

You've an uphill battle if you're not an engineer or well-connected in the auto industry especially during these hard times. You can use www.google.com/patents to do elementary keyword patent searching. Ultimately you'll work out Classes and subClasses then go to the patent office website to narrow down findings based on the class and subclasses since the patent office search site works best on numeric input and not keyword searching which produce hit-and-miss results.

I'd start by thoroughly researching via mags, websites, industry publications what is actually cookin' in the hybrid market; who is doing/working on what and manufacturers with divisions solely focused on hybrid applications. At this juncture - knowing the industry, players and competitors is a starting point along with elementary patent searching but don't get too excited it you find nothing of consequence while searching. Just remember, it doesn't have to be "the same" it could be "equivalent" to what exists too therefore not patentable. Also, you concept may be cited in patent Claims but not being marketed at this point but shelved in favour of marketing or working on the Preferred Embodiment - that is, until market entry forces align making timing perfect for other embodiments to be introduced.

Regards,
Penny Ballou