Hello Mr. Key & Mr. Krauss. I am a stay at home mom and I just recently created a game board for my kids to enhance the use of their vocabularies. It is very educational and I believe lots of parents will love it for their kids. Even adults can play it.

I searched online using google patent search, ebay, amazon, toy stores, also went to department stores and did not see anything like my idea/invention. I am not sure though if my search is accurate. So now I don't know what to do. Who do i trust? I don't have enough money and savings to hire an atty to do the patent or go to a company like invention home asking me $399 for just a patent seach + more, where on their dvd they said no upfront fee. I made a mistake of faxing my idea to invention home and hearing all this negative stuff now about them, I am afraid they might use it to get a patent first.

Should I do the patent myself or look for a company that can license or manufacture it? Do I call a manufacturer and show them my idea/invention without a patent? What's the best thing to do?

What if a company out there is interested to license or manufacture my invention, do I still need to get a patent or let them do it? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?

Thank you very much!