Amphibious Details

Do you just want to make one for yourself or do you want to manufacture them for sale? Do you wonder if the NZ company patents are valid or do you wonder about the patent process as you might want to patent something?
The name of the NZ company doesn't have to be a secret also. Too many secrets make it hard to compare or to answer questions. I don't think the idea of powered wheels on a boat is patent-able by itself. If Sealegs is the NZ company that copies the photos in post #9, one glaring difference is the design for the wheel supports, one uses a single strut and the other uses a double fork.
Whoever it is that holds a patent that you want to copy or that you want to avoid infringement troubles with, it wouldn't hurt to post the patent itself and then tiptoe around your concerns of disclosure or whatever they may be.

 

Should the gear retract?
Is this for fun or commercial use?
What length, what displacement, how many passengers, what type of use in what type of waters/seas?

 

First a rule of thumb in NZ is a patent lawyer is going to rip you off for certain and will tell you its a good idea when all he wants is your $$$$$$.
The idea of Sea Legs design has been done long ago before them and is old news as I posted in 2013 on amphibian https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/amphibian.48528/page-4 and their has been many more since as Sam states the general principle has been done and then it comes down to many ways to skin cat which sea legs did as Sam mentioned.
For get the patent and get on with your life unless you have $$$$$$ to burn and is a hobby, you come across naïve with out been rude, as have you the $$$$$ to protect the patent as a patent is nothing more that hunting license that's needs ammo "$$$$$$" no one is gong to help you except $$$$$.
Do a patent search for a starter on Google and if you are brave enough to go to the next stage and do it your self which is patent pending that cost about $100 on line, however ounce you start a patent you have just 12 months with an extension of 6 month to complete the next stage or you lose, then at that time you need to file over seas that you need to use a over seas patent lawyer $$$$$$$ as they do not allow you to do this like they do in your own country, so if you are not willing to place every thing on line "your life" give up as sacrifice is needed and no one is going to help you <removed; let's please not go down that road again. Thanks.>
Do it as a hobby and if you want to have a chance in hell make sure a large amount of cash to burn not just to patent but to develop the idea is the main cost.
I have actually ideas that never have been done before ready to manufacture and place patents but are in catch 22 constantly and why I do not file patents till proto types are completed and ready to go into production.
Another patent rule naïve inventors do not know that patent lawyers never mention is if you do manage to get finalized and if you do not market and sell with in two years in the country one files and the rip-offs know, as their own patent lawyers, the patent becomes invalid.
The list goes on and on
Sea legs can not be used on the public road and needs a trailer to transport and marketing $$$$$$$$$$ is what sells their very expensive product.

 

I think that is a universal attribute of patent lawyers everywhere.

 

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From Blared's gallery...

 

This may be of interest to you: The Patent Scam - A Documentary About Patent Trolls https://www.thepatentscam.com

 

We have had a bit of experience with patents and found that while many manufacturers claim to and hold a patent on a particular structure. machine etc , AND advertise that it is protected under patent #12345xxxx it is only OFTEN a portion of the device that is actually patented. Wheels underneath a boat is not a new idea but perhaps part of the mechanism can be patented.

So if you are looking at a particular, "in the public domain" structure/ machine, etc, and there are patent numbers available, (you can often find this on the company's website)
you will find that only a small portion actually pertains to the patent.

I doubt that Sealegs holds a patent that covers the general topic " putting wheels underneath an inflatable" as this has been around for decades,, but they probably hold a patent on part
of their design which is innovative and new

 

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If anyone wants to patent something, consider this...send me $10,000 to $20,000 and I'll send you something that's worth half of whatever you send me. That's a win-win situation because odds are if you pay the money for a patent you'll never see a penny returned from it.
So How Many Patents Are in a Smartphone? http://www.engine.is/news/category/so-how-many-patents-are-in-a-smartphone

 

That was pretty cheeky. The Apple patent was a "design patent", which includes things like the McDonald's yellow arches. It is used to protect the styling and form factors (which can be as expensive as the functional bits) for product differentiation and marketing (which is how you make money off your investment in that style and form). Its pretty different than a technical patent they are comparing it to.

Any electronic device, like the one you are reading this with, is a complex layering of millions of discrete hardware and software innovations and technologies, only a fraction of which have a patent associated with them.

 

Aside from all the patent BS, if the OP is looking to make a basket of money on his idea, I can say with some certainty that it ain’t gonna happen!
The best thing I can say about a product of this type is there’s lots of room for improvements, starting with paring down the weight and bulk.
Some marketing research might be a good idea at this point, as I don’t believe such a product will sell well at all, best case scenario for that idea is to sell it to the military, which would also be a (very) long shot.