After a lot of thinking, head scratching, and brain spazzing, I have finally come to a decision. A while ago I had decided to change my design to make it only function as one thing, (rather than 2), and after getting my patentability report, I second guessed that idea and have since come to the conclusion that I should change it back. Luckily it won't result in needing another search/report done (Hooray! That's money I didn't want to spend!). So, I will be making a new prototype, (since even when I was working on that, I never managed to make it function correctly), and after discussing with the agent/lawyer I have decided on something called a "Provisional Patent".
Since the intent in this whole process for me is to convince someone else to do all the hard work while paying me to do nothing, a Provisional Patent works. It's not a full-fledged patent (so therefore cheaper), but it allows my invention to sit on the desk at the patent office for a year, preventing others from being able to patent the same thing. As soon as it's filed, I can smack a "patent pending" label on my invention and start shopping it around to businesses. It gives me a year to gauge the interest in this and if no one wants it, I can let the Provisional Patent lapse, and I'm out less cash than if I had gone the full patent route.
It's kind of a compromise, but it's a compromise I'm willing to live with. Now, I just need to finish the prototype, and get that provisional patent filed. At the same time I'll make a dozen more and get some hands-on testing/focus group work done, which will give my proposal some meat when the time comes for me to put on my sales and marketing hat.
I find this whole thing entertaining, because other than the lawyer-mumbo-jumbo, every step in this process is something I have been trained to do. Handy!
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