One of the factors considered in whether or not an invention or an idea is patentable is the concept of non-obviousness. That is, could someone in your profession have conceived of the same idea or been able to solve the problem without a lot of thought?

I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not terribly interested in dwelling on legal matters, but I like the implications that the term "non-obvious" belies. I think that good ideas are always out in the open, but no one's found them because no one's gone looking for them.

Some obvious ideas:

• A mobile app for passengers for commercial airline flight tracking.


• A retail store that sells sports apparel for big-league teams.


• A coffee or cupcake shop.


• A New Age store that holds Yoga classes in the evenings.

Some (maybe) not-so-obvious ideas (ignoring any implications for patent-ability):

• A device that helps senior citizens manage their daily medications.


• A [something]-gram that could be sent to men. (Men don't like getting flowers delivered at work. Make it something different.)


• A coffee or cupcake shop which, by design, accommodates people with all major allergies or other dietary restrictions.


• Software for a golf course that helps manage caddies. Or that matches up a golfer's schedule with that of his/her favorite caddy.


• A point-of-sale system for restaurants, which includes portable devices that let each server send orders to the kitchen, then charge a credit card and capture an on-screen signature right at the table.