I never made it all the way to a patent, but in the process learned a few things.

It was about 25 years ago, so this may not be of any value in today's world of law. I got a book on the subject and they said that as early as possible establish the date of your idea. They called it a postage stamp patent. What you do is put as much technical detail together as you currently have on paper and mail it to yourself registered, sealed mail. Then do NOT open it, unless the time were to come when you need to establish a date earlier than someone competing for the same patent. You would then let them open it in court.

I mailed all this stuff to the company I worked for and they filed it away. I actually developed the auto loading automatic guided vehicle, as part of a system that we installed, but we never got to the point of it having a wide enough market to pursue further.

For Tom and TBO, you might check into this and see if it is still a worthwhile thing to do. If so, even if you only have a sketch and a scribbled description of the idea, seal it and mail it, so that you get a stake in the ground to establish a date.

Of course, if some time passes and you move further along and don't need to establish an earlier date, don't use it, use a later date, so that the patent will be in force for a longer amount of time.

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