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or any one else's help. She didn't want her son to live the way she had had to as a child. Although she
loved her mother, Annie's childhood had been filled with pain and sacrifices. A noise at the door startled
her.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Hamilton." Attorney Landry stood near his desk with his hand held out toward
her.
She shook his hand and tucked her problems inside. She'd have enough time to think things through
later. Seeing the elderly patent attorney got her inventive juices flowing. Inside her purse she had a
check that would finally start her career-hopefully.
"Hello, Attorney Landry." She reached into her purse to get out her checkbook.
His deep chuckle filled the office. "I see I don't need to ask if you are willing to take any further financial
risk of getting a patent."
She laughed. "I understand I may not get it, but if I don't continue, I can be certain I'll never get it."
He pulled a manila folder from his desktop. "Okay, let me explain what is going on so far. As I have told
you, your invention would be compared to similar ones that already have patents." He opened the
envelope and pulled out some sheets. "Unfortunately, there are similar..."
Annie felt as if the room was closing in on her. He was about to tell her that she would never get her
patent. Despite her throat constricting, she managed, "I...didn't get it?"
"Not yet. Now don't be so distressed, Ms. Hamilton. It is not uncommon that the first go- around is
denied. We will merely reapply."
And pay you and the government more money, she thought. "Is it worth it?"
"How badly do you want the patent?" She forced a smile. "Reapply."
"I'll need you to write up another description of your invention. I will redo my part. We need to make it
sound different from these." He pushed the pile of papers towards her.
Annie rifled through her briefcase and produced a wrinkled sheet of legal paper. "I remembered you
mentioned that we might need to redo, so I have been working on it already. Here it is. And a better
photo of my prototype."
He gave her a polite smile, but she wondered if he thought she was some kind of overeager nut. She was
an inventor. Not a nut. Of course she was eager. It was a long enough process so why not be excited at
every step she took? One more thought added fuel to her excitement fire- she could feel herself getting
closer to success.
Taking the paper, he read it over his Benjamin Franklin styled glasses. "Looks fine. Now, I'll have to
rewrite it to cover all the possibilities as I'd told you. I will have the draftsman redesign his drawing to
submit with the new application." He leaned back in his chair. "Your invention is quite a good idea, Ms.
Hamilton. Unfortunately, it will cost a bit more to reapply." He gave her a warm smile. "I wish you
luck."
Annie's heart flipped like the darn plastic cups in a dishwasher. Maybe this was going to be the one.
Even the lawyer liked her idea! Then she realized that her budget was going to have to be redone now.
She groaned.
"Are you all right?"
"Fine."
He continued, "I will notify you when we have refiled, and of course, send you a copy. As I said, you may
choose to start manufacturing your Stayput-"
"I can? That's right! I'm sure you had already mentioned that in our other meeting, but what if someone
already with a patent...although I've never seen anything like it in stores or catalogues."
He chuckled. Maybe at her excitement, maybe at her foolishness. "Many people get a patent and don't
have the finances to manufacture the invention."
She thought of Popi's patent for curtain rods and how he had never been able to afford to manufacture
any product to sell. She had come close to being one of those poor inventors because of the darn
explosion of her Painless Painter-because of darn David. Luckily, mesh netting and plastic hooks didn't
cost as much as other inventions might, and she could make The Stayputs and package them herself.
Those were the reasons she had decided to pursue this invention right now. Money, or her lack of it, and
time. Oh brother, now that she thought about it, she really didn't have much time to devote to her
Stayput. Not with having to repair the damage her Painless Painter had caused.
"In any case, if someone with a similar patent sees you have started to manufacture your idea, they
would ask us to cease and desist from further manufacturing."
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