a couple of disagreements:
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DON'T tell anyone anything!
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there is no way you cant take an idea to a product all by yourself. You are going to have to discuss your idea with other people, many other people. Some, like a patent attorney, have an implied agreement of security. For others you can use a standard non-disclosure agreement. The bottom line is, if you are going to apply for a patent you must act like your idea is valuable to you. If you go around telling everyone your idea, and post it on the internet... then you have legally given your idea into public domain, and everyone is free to use it.
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mail your idea to yourself in a letter....
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There is no value to this whatsoever. A so called post office patent has zero value in court (during a patent dispute). There is no way you can prove an old envelope with a post mark has not been steamed open and the contents altered, or the postmark was not counterfeit.
The engineers notebook, with witnesses signatures and dates is the best evidence you will have. Those witnesses must be willing to appear in court if your claims are ever disputed. Obviously the people who sign your engineering notebook must have read and understood what it said, which goes against the 'tell no one' fallicy.
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to save money write your own patent application
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dont even bother to go down this path. A poorly written patent application will result in a worthless patent. You must hire a patent attorney - if your idea is worth investing in, the you must invest in these things.
From my experience the one question you have to ask yourself is: what problem does my invention solve? Is your invention the solution to a problem, or is it a solution in search of a problem?
Ive seen a lot a great ideas and new products over the years, things that you look at and say WOW! thats awesome! Thats clever! Thats something Ive never seen before! But do I pull out my wallet and buy one?
many times, no. If your invention does not meet some real need, solve some problem in a better way than anything else thats out there, then you will sell only a handfull to technology geeks, then your sales will drop to zero.