Anyone have experience filing a patent?

[Hecate]

Hello,

I am an engineer and newbie to IM. I have recently invented a product (in alternative-energy, if that matters), and am looking to begin filing for a patent. I would love to avoid working with a patent attorney, if possible, as I am not made of money (at least, not until my IM takes off ). Does anyone have experience with this process that could possibly shed some light? I have already experienced the pain of searching through the US Patent Office's Database (though I am familiar with db queries), and from here it just looks like lots of paperwork and headache. I know for starters I will want to file a provisional patent, but not sure what the next best step is, or if there is any way to avoid working with a patent attorney.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BassTrackerBoats]

it is a headache and a huge one.

And I mean huge.

I did some of the prelim stuff myself as we applied for something in the lawn care product industry and even the prelim stuff was brutal.

We hired someone as there is seemingly no way for a non- attorney that is versed in that particular legal niche to be able to navigate through that mess.

It doesn't seem right that one HAVE to hire attorney but it does make sense to do that as you're an engineer, so you do a swell job operating as an engineer but maybe not as an attorney, much less a patent attorney.

Bite the bullet and pay the man would be my suggestion.

 

[healzer]

You do know the consequences of having a patent on your invention, right?
Haven't done it myself, but I would take BTB's advice

 

[joevplan]

From my experience when I was doing patent, the first thing you do is you look through all similar devices that are already there and make sure you have something really unique from other if you have at least 1% similar to the device already created, you wont get your own patent for particular device of yours. Then if there are no same devices as yours you need to describe in detail your device and all process it does and file it for patent, and that is all you need to do. The hardest part is to go through all the devices that already beed created have patents and do same thing as yours, very time consuming.... but you might be lucky and be the only one with your device So what needs to be unique is the process that is involved in your device...

 

[myopic1]

Second BTB's suggestions, great advice there...pay the man. Patent Lawyers are really worth their weight in gold if you find a good one. When it comes to patenting things you're swimming with sharks, there's well paid lawyers waiting in the wings for their time to shine.. better build yourself a decent cage!

The trouble is you can look at a patent and think 'no, I don't infringe upon that in anyway' and then some sneaky little clause or generally accepted truth that patent lawyers know about or would see straight away, that we as lay people do not, can really hit you hard. Upfront investment here really can save you massive losses down the line.

 

[loedown]

Might want to check out legal zoom.

 

[toml3030]

I would love to avoid working with a patent attorney, if possible, as I am not made of money

You're looking at about $30K in legal bills to get through the patent process, and remember, patents only give you the right to sue people who infringe on your patents in court, which is another $100K, easily. Also 95% of patents do not generate any revenue, even after they are granted. You need a money backer to finance this stuff. This is not a "do it yourself" type of project. If a large corporation decides to steal your invention and you complain to them without being backed by money, their response will pretty much be "F You, we have 40 patent attorneys on our payroll and we'll crush you in court until your money runs out".