A client came to me today wanting to know if I could represent him to obtain a patent for an idea he had. He said that he contacted a patent attorney, the only one in the phone book, and he wanted $9,000.00 for representation. I had to tell him that I could not represent him in the matter. Patent law is considered a very specialized practice in the legal profession. Most patent lawyers have a scientific and/or engineering background and even passed a special bar exam in addition to the one all other attorneys passed. Their specialized skills and expertise command high fees.
Consistent with the recuring theme of this site, you can file for a patent without an attorney. You will have to spend a lot of time doing the research and drafting the necessary documents, but it can be done.
Before embarking on the acquisition of a patent, make sure your idea or invention is one that is patentable. You must have a unique idea that is not yet for sale or known about. This means you have to research the idea to insure it is original.
Furthermore, you must be able to describe all aspects of your invention. A simple idea is not patentable. For example, I think we should all have affordable flying cars and robot maids. However, I don’t have any knowledge of how to put these ideas into place, so I could not obtain a patent. You should have well crafted designs and ideally, you should make prototypes showing that your idea actually works.
Consider the economic viability of your invention. Weigh the likely market for your product, the cost of production, and determine if it is likely to be profitable. If not, it is not worth the costs of obtaining a patent.
Once you’ve determined that a patent is right for you, you can obtain a provisional patent for a fraction of the cost and effort that the regular patent will cost. This will allow you patent pending status for one year. During this time, you can start marketing your product to test the waters. You may then file for a regular patent.
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