I’m asking this for my boyfriend who doesn’t use reddit. He’s in the fishing industry and has this brilliant idea for a tool that fisherman use everyday – but a much better version of it that would make the use of this tool much easier to use. It doesn’t exist yet, we checked. The problem is he (and I) have ZERO clue on how to get this going… I know that he needs to build or create some sort of prototype, right? Is there a company that can help with this? I know there are these “invention help” companies that exist, but are they legit? If they are legit, are there some that are considered better? How do they work and make money? Sorry if I’m just spewing a bunch of questions but I’m just at a loss when it comes to this stuff. I really want to help him make this a reality because he’s struggling financially at times and I just have this deep-down feeling that this could really be a great thing not only for him, but for the fishing industry in general. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
No, they can’t legally do that, although they might illegally be able to do that.
To obtain a patent you need to be the inventor (or have his sign off) .
You’re being down voted but you’re 100% correct. Only inventors can be granted patents and they may assign their patent rights to anyone else they please. Anyone can file a patent but if it were proven they were not the actual inventor, their patent could be invalidated.
This is not to confuse first to file with first to invent which is a different matter entirely.