Government Regulations
Does my idea have to conform to government regulations?
In a word, yes. Yes, it does.
Don’t get me wrong, you are free to invent and build as much as you like but if you want to market and sell your invention, you will have to ensure that it falls in line with the law.
The government has regulations to protect the public from disease, accidents by fire, what poison. They have laws for products, and industries, to keep the public safe. Products must pass safety tests to be allowed on an open market in the United States. How do you know which laws pertaining to your industry?
Government regulations are pretty simple to look up, just open up your preferred browser and type in the industry of your choice.
It gets more specific from that point on depending on the nature of what you are patenting.
1. Let’s start with education here:
https://www.cpsc.gov/Regulations-Laws–Standards
2. Some more on regulations:
https://www.entrepreneurship.org/articles/2005/11/complying-with-government-regulations
3. Article from entrepreneur simplifying regulations:
Every product that exists has a category number based on industry it is categorized under.
A place to search for your updated number is here:
Once you determine the classification and industry your product belongs, call and ask about where to look up current regulations . You want to make sure you are compliant and covered with adequate liability insurance.
https://www.naics.com/attention-bsa-compliance-officers/
There are a few rules that can be applied to most creations:
Should not be hazardous to the people who would be using it. This means that you cannot invent a kitchen knife that sprays hot oil so that you can simultaneously fry while you cut. (You would not be able to predict where the oil spray would go, not to mention oil fires are incredibly dangerous.)
Laws involving health and safety in New York can be found here:
https://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/
Its production and/or use should not harm the environment. Things that harm the environment have a nasty tendency to affect the people living nearby as well. Many machines used in factory production release volatile organic compounds that need to be mitigated. This is quite costly and may put off investors.
A lot of New York environment regulations can be found here:
There is of course the matter of:
The equipment you make or use in manufacturing has to be up to date and safety standards should be reviewed.
Refer to: Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER). (All manufacturers must adhere to this and inspect equipment they provide and work with.)
For more information check it out here:
https://m.qemsolutions.com/assets/library/QHelp-A-Simple-Guide-to-PUWER.pdf
So to sum everything up, please use common sense, keep your health and safety hazards to a minimum, and keep the environmental hazards to a minimum.
