If you have chosen the path of the product entrepreneur, at some point you will need to answer the question “How should I properly spend my hard earned money? Do I build a prototype first or file a patent application?”. It’s a great question and while everyone’s situation is unique, more often than not it makes sense to build the prototype first especially if you have the capital to do so. There are a few reasons for this.
As you begin your prototype development, you will no doubt run across areas of design and function that need improving. While this is sometimes a frustrating process, those areas give you a unique opportunity to dig deep into your creative toolbox and develop innovative solutions that may not only be time and money-saving, but that can also protect your product by way of patents and you can read more about it from https://steemit.com/innovation/@fiserman/what-does-it-take-to-become-a-modern-inventor-in-2019.
A really good prototype will help your product development team with manufacturing cost estimates and is useful for your marketing team to get feedback from potential customers. Also a physical prototype will help the legal team understand the claims that can be made on your patent and streamline the filing process with the USPTO as you can read from https://t2conline.com/reasons-why-it-is-essential-for-entrepreneurs-to-be-innovative/.
One thing that may benefit you is to do an initial prior art search to try to see what other patents, published patent applications or other prior art is out there that could negatively impact your ability to get a patent, and to avoid potential patent conflicts that could arise after you have built your initial prototype. You should realize, however, that prior art searches are never perfect, and that they cannot possibly find unpublished patent applications.