💡 You have an invention. Should your first move be calling a patent attorney? Not necessarily. In this Inventive Fireside | 60 Second Answers episode, Devin from Miller IP explains three practical steps inventors should complete before a patent consultation: write the invention down, search for similar solutions, and validate whether customers care. That preparation does not replace legal advice. It helps make legal advice more useful. FIRST: WRITE THE INVENTION DOWN An idea can feel perfectly clear in your head—until you try to explain it. Document the problem, the proposed solution, the key components, how they interact, and what makes the invention different. Add sketches, flowcharts, screenshots, process diagrams, or mockups. The artwork does not need to impress anyone. It only needs to communicate. Devin recommends explaining the idea at the “drunk grandma level.” Remove jargon and describe the concept so clearly that someone outside the industry could understand and repeat it. Writing can expose missing steps, conflicting assumptions, weak features, and alternative versions. It also gives a patent attorney something concrete to review instead of asking the attorney to decode an enthusiastic cloud of hand gestures. SECOND: SEARCH FOR SIMILAR PRODUCTS AND IDEAS Run a basic search before assuming the invention is new. Search the customer problem, desired outcome, product category, technical terms, competing solutions, and synonyms. Review Google results, online stores, manufacturer catalogs, videos, crowdfunding campaigns, app stores, trade publications, patent databases, and industry discussions. When you find something similar, compare how it works, who it serves, what customers dislike, how it is priced, and where your approach differs. A competitor can reveal prior art, but it can also reveal demand, customer complaints, sales channels, and opportunities for improvement. THIRD: VALIDATE THE MARKET A patent may help protect an invention, but it cannot force customers to want it. Talk with potential users and buyers. Ask what they currently do, how often the problem occurs, what it costs, what frustrates them, and who approves the purchase. Avoid questions that invite compliments. “Would you buy my revolutionary product?” often produces friendly encouragement and very few credit-card numbers. Look for real signals: pilot interest, preorders, letters of intent, waitlist signups, sample requests, distributor conversations, or evidence that customers already pay for inferior alternatives. Then examine pricing, production, development, packaging, fulfillment, support, compliance, sales channels, and margins. A useful product can still become a difficult business when the economics arrive with a calculator and bad news. WHEN SHOULD LEGAL COUNSEL ENTER? Do not let preparation become endless delay. If you plan to launch publicly, offer the invention for sale, demonstrate it, publish details, crowdfund, or disclose it broadly, speak with qualified counsel promptly. Patent strategy can depend on timing, facts, and jurisdiction. Bring a plain-language description, drawings, inventor information, important dates, search results, customer findings, pricing assumptions, business goals, and questions about protection, ownership, timing, and risk. The larger lesson is simple: do not avoid the patent attorney. Prepare for the patent attorney. Write the invention down. Search what exists. Test whether the market has a pulse. Then use the legal conversation to connect intellectual property protection with a realistic business strategy. Listen to the full Inventive Fireside | 60 Second Answers episode for Devin’s explanation, then use the three-step framework to organize your next move. This content is for general educational purposes and is not legal advice. To chat about this one-on-one, grab a free consult at strategymeeting.com