Ok, my friend is going through this, and I have another that is a patent attorney. What my friend did (after much research) is to put her idea on paper then put it in a sealed envelope and mail it certified returned to herself. You do not open the envelope! Supposedly this is to prove you had the idea, if someone else comes up with it too. She is using a company that will do the patent search, they find things similar or the same as your idea. They send out info to manufacturers to see who can make the product, then to retailers to see who is interested and so on and so on. Now the attorney had an idea and contacted a company like that but wouldn't use them because he felt they wanted to do things that didn't need to be done, and did not want to spend the money. Personally, I think I would speak to a patent attorney, and depending on what the idea is try to do the leg work myself. It has been almost a year and a half, and my friend still hasn't gotten anywhere with hers and it is a great idea! It is a product I think almost everyone would buy!
