New Patent

[goofymonkey33]

I live in Michigan. I have a question. Obviously, right? lol

How hard is it for a person pro per to obtain a patent? I have a product, I've already tested, and is currently in use by a couple frieds and family for over a year now. But I'm thinking I want to sell it and obviously make a couple dollars on it. My question is, am I going to want to commit suicide by the time this is done? I have extensive dealings with the federal government and money, and I was close a couple times. I certainly know why they call it going POSTAL. lol

Thanks everyone

Jeff

 

[divgradcurl]

How hard is it for a person pro per to obtain a patent?

This depends entirely on how complex the technology is, how novel the technology is, and how much time you are willing to devote to learning the procedures and the law.

When you are drafting your patent application, it is usually the best practice to start by drafting the claims -- if you get all of your claims together first, it is easier to draft a specification that fully describes each claim. If you start with the spec, it's possible to end up with claims that do not have any support for the spec. Just a tip.

Also, when drafting the claims, be realistic. Don't try and claim stuff that you know is already fully patented or in the public domain. It will just make life more difficult later. It's not always easy to narrow very broad claims during prosecution -- especially if your specification is written around the broad claims. If you later need to limit your claims, any limitations you add must be supported by the spec -- and you can't add anything to the spec once its filed.

The more novel your invention, usually the easier it is to obtain a patent. If the invention is an improvement over another invention, it may be more difficult to traverse (argue around) claim rejections during prosecution of the patent.

Anyway, go to a library or bookstore and try and find a book or two on the patent process. Here's an example from Nolo Press: http://www.amazon.com/Patent-Yourse...d_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203491480&sr=8-2

I have no idea if this book is any good or not, but Nolo is known for putting out easy-to-use law books for people representing themselves. Anyway, this book, or one like it, can help you to understand the process. Also, familiarize yourself with the USPTO website at www.uspto.gov, lots of info there. Finally, you might want to see if there are any local or regional or online inventors groups or forums that you could turn to if you need help.

Finally, depending on how complex your invention actually is, you might find that a patent agent or patent attorney can help you for less than you think.

 

[goofymonkey33]

Beautiful. Excellent set of information. I'm recommending you for the Nobel Prize. If there is't one for this, than I'll patent one. lol No but serious, it was/is very helpful, uplifting, and direct. Clear, concise, and to the point. Thanks again.