Chaz,
Forget about it or put it in production ASAP. That's good advice. I've designed a number of items that have gone into production, but have not patented a single one. I am philosophically opposed to current patent law which now allows patents on "state of the art" ideas. "State of the art" means the best of what everyone is commonly doing. It is best understood as "the current state of the art." Patents once were allowed only on advances to the state of the art. New stuff. The same problem applies to copyright. You can copyright common phrases, songs and so forth that are part of the public domain. The system is nuts and tends to stiffle innovation instead of encouraging it. AAAAAAAAAAA!