Unfortunately, In the world of patents, Money talks.

I suppose that the BEST piece of advice would be to stay away from the folks who do the " Do you have an invention?" commercials.

The next thing is to hire a patent attorney.

Then be prepared for manufacturing and marketing costs.

It takes a very long time to actually be awarded a patent, usually seven years or more...Thats why most items you buy say " patent pending" on them.

As dismal as it sounds, as often as not, the best thing you can do is; hire a patent attorney toconfirm that it IS in fact your idea, and sell the IDEA to a manufacturer.