Well,<br><br> Since I last posted I've completed
several steps in the idea-to-reality adventure. I made
rudimentary sketches by hand of my envisioned product and
have completed a non-professional patent search for
any existing infringements. The good news is that I
didn't find anything that I might be copying. I've been
in touch recently with a consulting firm that helps
people develop their ideas, they are not an invention
development company and were quick to point out the
difference. The difference mainly being the way that fees are
imposed; an invention development company usually has a
fixed interest in all sales and profits from an
invention. Anyway. I've also made an interesting contact up
in NY. This guy represents a community of
manufacturers in Japan and he's looking for people who might be
interested in developing some piece of mechanical equipment.
He offers a neat twist, he's willing to take your
idea (meaning you've already have a patent and
mechanical specs for the idea) and sent the specs to one of
his companies in Japan, they'll produce a dozen
working models free of charge and ship them back to you
for quality assurance. Then you have a dozen working
models with which to market the idea. His angle is that
when it comes time for mass production you'll use the
same manufacturer. <br><br>Anyway, I still haven't a
formal patent, nor a working model. But I do have some
optimism due to the fact that there still isn’t anything
out there like my idea. I’ll keep you all posted of
my slow moving progress as it develops. Thanks for
the interest. How are you all doing?<br><br>Wes