"Pop" wrote in message
...
That guy needs to chat with the SBA and a few other reliable
sources to get some experience and decent advice under his belt.
A lawyer is NOT the place to start! You also are not the person
he needs for advice, judging by your lack of understanding and
several other things about your post.

Well, as I said, I have 2 patents and 2 more in process. I've submitted on
many more than that. You can check USPTO if you'd like to read the ones I
have: 4,702,322 "Explosion suppression system" and an improvement on it,
5,826,664 "Active fire and explosion suppression system employing a
recloseable valve". I know every step of the process that led to them, and
I know they weren't cheap. I also know it CAN be done without a lawyer but
only if the applicant is familiar with both the process and the unique
formatting (and jargon) required by USPTO. "Sacramento Dave" asked for
advice, I gave him the benefit of my own personal experience with the
process, and I'll stand on that. Thanks to the others who tried to sound
the same cautionary tone: Patents aren't a panacea, they take a year or
more to issue (often much longer as questions arise over claims), and
they're routinely bypassed even when they're not ignored altogether. Now
I'm going back to lurking -- too many newsgroups, too little time!
- Steve Richardson
St Louis MO