Bring Your Product Idea to Life

How OCR Works

At OCR Product Development, we combine Dr. Stephen Kerr’s 25 years of product development experience with AI-assisted research, design and analysis to provide a structured, step-by-step path from initial product evaluation through prototype development and testing.

We begin with the problem: who experiences it, how it is being solved today, and whether your idea offers a meaningful improvement. From there, the process moves through researching the opportunity, simplifying the concept, planning useful tests, and developing and refining a working prototype. When appropriate, we can also help prepare the materials needed to present your product for licensing.

You choose the level of help that fits your project. Our self-guided resources help you do the work yourself. Automated reports bring research together into an initial assessment. Personal development services add Dr. Kerr’s direct involvement in design, prototyping and testing within an agreed scope. You can enter at the stage that fits your idea; you do not need to purchase every package.

The goal at each stage is a clearer decision about what to do next—before committing more time and money.

AI-Assisted. Personally Developed.

AI helps us investigate, organize and refine. Experience and testing guide the development work.

For OCR’s personal product-development services, Dr. Kerr directs the work and uses AI assistance where appropriate for research, analysis, design and preparation of project materials. Useful results require clear instructions, careful review and repeated refinement. A convincing design on screen is a starting point; physical testing shows how a prototype performs.

AI-assisted design and in-house 3D printing can shorten the cycle between designing, building, testing and revising. Dimensions, clearances, connections and assembly details still require hands-on attention. The scope, schedule and deliverables are agreed upon before work begins, and any need for specialized outside expertise is discussed with you.

The type of assistance depends on the package. Automated reports are AI-generated and do not include personal review. The Enhanced Starter Kit offers optional AI research tools alongside a manual research path.

The self-directed Provisional Patent Application (PPA) package assists you in drafting and assembling a complete provisional patent application, ready for submission after you review the documents and complete the required filing information. It guides you through preparing your own drawings, assigning consistent part names and reference numbers, and adding leader lines that connect each number to the corresponding part. Its local converter organizes your completed workbook text into the specification—the written description of your invention, including its parts, how they work together, and how it operates. The converter uses your words without AI rewriting; your drawings remain a separate document.

All work in the downloaded PPA workbook and converter is done locally on your computer. Neither tool sends your invention information to OCR Product Development or any AI service. To keep your confidential working files only on that computer, save them in a local folder that is not synced to cloud storage. Submitting your finished application to the USPTO is a separate step you choose to take.

Your Ideas Deserve Careful Handling

Early research can often begin with a high-level description: what your product does, not the confidential details of how it works. The Product Readiness Score, Research Pack’s external AI prompts and Automated Reality Check are intended for nonconfidential information.

For personal services involving confidential invention details, we establish a confidentiality agreement before you share those details. We explain any proposed AI use and obtain your authorization before submitting confidential material to an AI service. OCR is preparing a private development workspace with defined access and data-handling procedures; confidential submissions are not yet open.

Using the local PPA workbook and converter does not share your work with OCR. You control any later sharing. If you want OCR to review confidential material, sign a confidentiality agreement with us before sending it.

When Do You Need an NDA? Read the guide and download a sample →