That would be a copyright not a patent. Realistically it's highly unlikely that the cost for copyrighting would be worthwhile, it would not stop the countless Chinese counterfeit sellers, and legal costs to go after someone who sold 10 copies may not be practical. The guy who came up with the I heart NY bumper stickers is a rare examples where his regretting not copyrighting the design is justifiable.
Celebrity likenesses and pro sport team logos are copyrighted and can cost $10,000 to license, some snappy expression has little relative value.
There is a way to offer a "limited edition" of a design that costs you nothing to setup. Tspring.com uses a sort of crowd funding scheme where you offer a single design with a target sales of 10,20 or more pieces, when enough people pre-purchase the silk screen production run is made and people are billed, otherwise no money changes hands. There are many how-to courses on making money through this site, most are based on targeting a specific interest group like gun or pit bull lovers with ads on a high traffic Facebook page or paid Facebook ads which have very precise demographic targeting options., really the marketing is more important than the design.
Here;s a separate site that reports on TeeSpring campaigns, not many don't make the quota and that big sellers are tied to an existing non profit organization.
http://teescover.com/
You can play around with the design setup and volume/pricing options at teespring without even registering.
Not REALLY a patentable concept but COPYRIGHTABLE for sure!
See here: http://www.take5inc.com/copyright/
If you have a VIABLE invention then it is a good idea to protect it.
Do you know about the Provisional Application for Patent? It only costs $65 and was designed by Congress to give individual inventors a chance at bringing their inventive ideas to market easily. It is SUPER EASY to do..
If a provisional application for patent looks like the right thing for you to do then take a look at a website that shows EXACTLY how to file one using a video format. Either Google or YouTube Provisional Patent Video or PM me and I will give you links to consider. I notice you do not have your email turned on in Yahoo or I would have sent it to you..
I do not want to put links in here because lawyers delete my posts when I do.. go figure! They do not want you to know how easy this is! You can email me at dave.korpi@gmail.com too if you want as well!
There are LOTS of ways to move forward with your invention. I would caution you away from paying ANYONE ANYTHING until you COMPLETELY understand what and when they will give you what you want.
DO NOT pay anyone $5,000 to start your invention... Not even invention companies until you COMPLETELY understand exactly what they will do for you. I have talked to way too many folks who have spent from $1800 to $5000 to get nothing.
Not to worry.. there are ways to get what you want ant YOU can do it yourself, for the most part, and it is fairly easy to do everything. Just know the USPTO if a branch of the Federal Government and the Federal government wants YOU to be a millionaire so you can pay taxes. Therefore, the Federal Government, via the USPTO, makes it EASY to file a Provisional Application for Patent. Extremely easy.
You can't patent some design or clever words on a t-shirt. You could try to copyright it but I can almost guarantee that someone else has already had the idea -- probably a hundred other people. Even if you were able to copyright it, other people would steal it and if you don't have several thousand dollars for a lawyer, you couldn't do anything about it.
I have an idea for a Tshirt. Want to present it to someone who can finance it. Should I patent it first
