Important: Consult with a patent lawyer before signing up with a patent broker or developer who claims he or she will evaluate, register and market your brainchild.
DON'T SPIN WHEELS. Someone may have beaten you to the patent punch. You, or someone you hire, has to search for the existence of inventions similar to your idea, called "prior art." You can check out your idea at any Patent and Trademark Depository Library available in all 50 states; find a directory here.
To cruise an online patent database, try the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (see here).
CASHING OUT. When you'd rather just get your patent and then your money, you will want to find a reliable broker, whose references you'll certainly check. Many universities maintain technology-licensing personnel for their own inventors. These specialists can suggest good brokers who will work on a contingency-fee arrangement, meaning that the broker makes money only if your invention sells.
NAYSAYERS. Luminaries such as H.G. Wells and Thomas Edison were willing to dismiss as useless or unworkable such things as electric lights, rockets and airplanes. The president of Digital Equipment Corporation declared in 1977 that "there is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." Consider this whenever you are ready to dismiss your next great idea!