A. Of course there is.
Go to your nearest patent office and visit the library.
They should have records of patents by category.
Search carefully the area nearest to your idea to see if anything like it has been patented before.
If not, you can talk to them about an application and a preliminary specification.
A preliminary specification is like a summary of your idea.
It needs enough information for you to prove later that you really had this idea in the first place.
The shortened form of it allows you to complete it quickly enough to establish a priority date.
This date is when the specification is received by the patent office.
It is used in any court to prove who was the first to come up with it. Completing that gives you time to develop the idea and write it up in a full specification.
The full specification is intended to be a legal document containing a detailed description of your idea, how it works, what all of its related parts do, how to make it, and how it differs from or improves upon earlier ideas.
Since this can be a complex task, the patent office often supplies copies of example specifications to guide you. Some prefer to have a patent attorney write this type of thing, but it will cost a fee to do so.
Once it is ready, take it to the patent office and submit it for approval, covering any fees required.
After they have examined it, the office will either grant or deny a patent on the idea.
Receiving a patent for an idea gives the holder the exclusive right (for a fixed time) to develop and market the idea in any country where it is registered.
That also confers the right to prosecute anyone who seems to be infringing on that right by copying the idea, manufacturing it without permission, or even producing an identical idea after you did. After this time period expires, other people may use the idea freely. If the patent office denies the patent, it is usually for one of the following reasons:
