Next time you leave your bar stool to use the potty, you may find yourself thanking Danny Lane and Eric Tecosky.

These two men have invented a contraption that will eliminate the need for the napkin-over-drink method of saving seats. And thanks to this
Seat Saver, you won't have to worry about inconsiderate, amateur bar goers taking your seat which you clearly saved with that crumpled, wet bar napkin.

These former bartenders created a durable and reusuble coaster that carries a message: This is my seat and I'm coming back for it.

As bartenders, both Lane and Tecosky devised the plan for The Seat Saver. "[We] were constantly in the position of having to save customers' seats when they temporarily got up from the bar to go smoke outside or in a designated smoking section," says Lane.

Lane goes on to explain that, one night, he and Tecosky had finally had it with the seat-saving business. "After the millionth person put a napkin over their drink and asked us to watch their seat, I turned to my now-partner, Eric Tecosky, and said, 'Why don't we come up with a way to save seats?' He turned to me like I had three heads and said, 'What are we gonna do, re-invent the coaster?'"

Tecosky, who previously invented a dirty martini mix called Dirty Sue, and Lane spent three weeks devising prototypes before finding that a coaster with a single hole in it would be their best design.

According to Lane, over 75% of cities in the US have adopted laws banning smoking inside bars and restaurants. This means smokers will be leaving their seats more often. In addition, everybody's got a cell phone these days but few people have the ability to stay seated in a noisy bar while taking a call; they, too, will be leaving their seats. And, as always, every drinker needs to use the bathroom at some point during the night; the more you drink, the more you go and you can't stay in your seat and take care of business -- at least not without being completely indecent.

To avoid going through bar napkins like crazy -- and possibly widening their carbon footprints, bars will need different means to save those seats. That's where Danny Lane and Eric Tecosky come in with their new design -- a green, seat-savin' machine.

The patent is pending on The Seat Saver but bars, liquors and cigarette companies are jumping on the bandwagon. Everyone wants to be part of the next big bar thing.

The Village Idiot in Los Angeles is among many other bars stamping their name on this product. Their Seat Saver features the name of the bar, their Website and address, the Seat Saver official site and also offers their personalized saved-seat message: "Idiot Shall Return". Other bars getting in on the action include
Jones Hollywood and Tom Bergin's Tavern both in Los Angeles and
McGillin's Olde Ale House and Drinker's Pub in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In addition, companies, including Patron and Bacardi, and even Kool Cigarettes are slapping their names on these coasters and placing them in bars across the country. It's actually a pretty genius marketing scheme. Anytime you step away from the bar, you'll return and be reminded that Patron shots are an awesome way to get a party going.

In fact, a recent study states that the average coaster sells a message for 30 minutes and is seen by five people while it sits underneath a drink. But since Seat Saver sits atop a drink, it's got the edge on your average coaster. So expect to see these squares in your local watering hole sometime soon.