Dave what you can do is apply for a design registration. This pertains to the look or image.
If the device is a working item then you can apply for a patent. Like Carol said its all a matter of how deep your pockets are in defending your rights.
In order to be granted a patent specifically in the USA you will have to have your application stand up to scuitiny. This process involved a search for prior art and a determination as to novelty.
For the small guy, unless you have something in your mind that is very special that you think everyone may want like for example and ipad or iphone or something like the touch screen module, then it aint worth it.
Been there done that got two t shirts. Gets even more difficult and costly when its in another country.
One other thing few ever consider in this rush to see their name on a patent.
The patent grants you rights of exclusivity. In return you disclose everything about your device or product. That alone is sufficient information to help a competitor that might not have been developing in the right direction to now change course and go down your path in the search of an incremental novelty.
In addition should say i wish to make your device as well you are obligated to come to some fair arrangement with me such as a license with reasonable royalty fees such that i might offer a competitive device with the same technology. Should you refuse to do so the courts can make a ruling in that regard for you and it would then be binding.
Much of this the lawyers dont tell you when you want to take out a patent. Because it would make many think twice about the cost.
Its a very interesting field because the other side of the coin, the more positive side of the coin is that a patent is termed intellectual property as such when looking at it from a business perspective you can have a patent valuer put a value to the IP. This value is then listed as the asset value on the company balance sheet and can be used very succesfully to raise capital.
Of course you need to be able to demonstrate the likelyhood of the patented product achieving certain revenues in order to have a valuation of meaningful sense.
Remember though that since it is an asset in a company the IRS will allow you to depreciate such an asset and so it can be very worthwhile having it valued if the company that owns the asset has significant income and profits.
As you can sumise the whole game really works well for going concerns. But many startups specifically in the tech sector start the business and achieve the entire valuation at the beginning by virtue of the value of such patented technology. The idea being that the value has been created in the fact that the company has exclusivity in the market place and therefore depending on the product has essentially guaranteed sales, assuming someone actually wants whatever it is they have.
Sorry for the long story. But i think this background is worth knowing. Lots of good ideas once developed are often seen as obvious to other people but they never thought of them in the first place. Sometimes those simple notions can be worth a fortune. But one needs to be real about ones situation and point in time.
Subsequent to my own experiences I came to the conclusion after speaking to a fellow highly respected business owner that given the pace of development in a company that manufactures or produces product with evolving technology that it is far better to apply the resources that would be involved in patenting a specific element, to that of marketing and securing sales and market penetration and market share. This can be a big deterent to anyone wanting to come after you.
Often you will spend all the cash on the patent, then in 18 months time you find yourself making your own patent obsolete by virtue of your new development.
Its a great topic and i aint a legal begal on it just cut my teeth on it all the hardway and after that you certainly remember a thing or two.
Last point somewhat related. There is in my view a bitter sweet side to the aspect of sharing entire construction processes or methods on a forum or the web. Showing a product on a website to entice people to buy is one thing, but if the product has novelty that you have created then posting the entire way you made it, in order to have content on your website which people will seek out such that you get a higher rating in search engines is in my opinion foolish. People forget this competitive element in the midst of being willing to share how they do something.
Not that i would want to copy Chucks process of making his mugs but there is an example of what i mean.
What it also does is remove the element of mysticism which is to the consumer, part of the intrinsic value.
In the case of Chucks mug tutorial it serves to support value when you see the lengthy process because the many stages make one realize the work involved. This is not always the case with some posts you see people do and inmho they dont realize they devalue their work by making it appear to be so easy to do.