Where to go with an idea??
 

I recently came up with an alternative use for an existing garage-related product that would go miles in a marketing effort for any one (or all) of the companies that make the product. The idea doesn't involve using the entire actual product, only about 50% of it, and would also need a small addition in order to be completed.

Where would you go with an idea such as this? Build a prototype and take it to the manufacturer (who could probably steal it without much trouble)? Or can ideas be sold? I am 99% certain that it is not on the market.

I always start with searching for a patent myself. Unfortunately I have never gotten past that stage :(

Good luck!

good patent attorney - you'll need to be very specific on how it works, maybe create a working model

but you do need to lock it up AND anything similar that could do the same thing as your idea in a similar way

(not an attorney. These are just my ideas)

I've had many ideas(never followed up on), which many years/decades later I viewed in media as the "latest-greatest" thing. Helmet to roof strap, electromagnetic suspension, interactive keyboard for the blind, etc.
Glad those ideas are benefitting society, but wish I was the one receiving royalties.

After a professional search by a private firm, I once spent $6,000(usually $8-20+K) with a good attorney filing for a 3-rotor electric efficiency motor/energy converter. With hybrids in full swing, I believed there could be a strong market demand for this type of product.
-I spent hundreds of hours searching and printing similar concepts beforehand, and wrote a basic patent outline which he could base off of, if desired.
-The patent office denied my claim, and returned their own search showing existing artwork(filed after I originally had the idea). Oh well.

You can do a basic search using terms at the USPTO website.
-If you're too vague, you'll sift through hundreds and thousands of unrelated ideas.
-If you're too specific, anyone "monitoring" your computer(media stalkers etc.) could figure out your game plan.

A Provisional Patent can be filed for cheap which only stakes your claim for a year. It can be handwritten but should encompass all aspects and variations of your idea. A Non-Provisional lasts 15 years(I believe), needs to follow exacting USPTO guidelines, and is a stronger claim.
A claim is only as strong as its enforcement.

During that time you can attempt to market it to companies or talk to honest people in the business. After filing, I attempted to directly contact the R&D departments at Toyota and Honda, but received some rude replies.
That is usual business bureacracy. They only provide waiting room coffee to closers.

Get a "non-disclosure" form signed first. Whomever may decide they want you to release your temporarely rights so they can file a Non-Provisional themselves, they may plain steal it, or they may just decide that implimentation of your idea would not sell product and/or be too expensive to manufacture.

Many and sometimes most of the ideas contained in your patent are probably already included in(and infring upon) existing patent holders. Fighting a large company in court costs millions of dollars if not on a contingency agreement with the attorney, and they will squash you like a bug.
At this point you would be seeking funding and business partners who will do that work.

I'll just throw out there that 'the good idea' is a necessity, but very small part of any venture. That is, all the work is in realizing that idea. ....a LOT of work.

It's almost as easy as making a paper weight out of a rock. Kind of a novelty item . . . but very cool. Think a non-disclosure agreement would go far in this instance since there aren't any examples out there- but ABC screwed me even after signing an ironclad nda.

Applying for three patents. Sweeeet. This, of course, only goes to prove my genus.

Patents are only worth the $$$ you have to defend them.

A smart man/company will not sign a disclosure. If they/them have the same idea as what you're showing them it puts them into a legal bind.

I've made a few $$$ on some designs that someone else sold.