I' m in the process of buying a patent for an archery idea. I did a good bit of research and kept getting told to get a patent attorney. I did patent searches myself and found no other ideas like mine. I finally did go to a patent attorney and when he did a patent search he found several existing patents that were along the same lines, but still not like mine. Mine was different enough to warrant getting the patent.

I would recommend at least talking to a PA. They usually won' t charge you just to discuss the patent process and your idea.

The other thing you will definitely run into is that the larger companies will not give you the time of day without a patent or at least " patent pending" status. They get inundated with ideas and won' t pay for the patent process when they don' t know if they will get a return on their investment. Some of the smaller companies will look at your idea with a disclosure document, but they still see many, many ideas every day so it is very competitive. I would recommend doing your own patent search first and then getting the disclosure document. You can send it to some of the smaller companies first so see if there is any interest there. You never know, you may just get lucky. If none of them want to market it, then you can look at possibly getting the patent.

Just remember that getting a patent does not guarantee that your idea will be used by a company. It is a calculated risk you have to take.

Good luck with your idea. I hope we see it on the market soon!