I Have Created Something That I Believe May Be Patentable. What Is The Best Way To See If It Can Be? What Is Cost?

[bergin]

What web sites are reliable? What is the up-front cost range? How much can I do myself? How much can I expect to pay a patent attorney?

[Booker]

Answers below... Avoid advertisements(usually television, radio, occasionally magazine/newspaper) for companies offering to patent your product. Generally, they are scams, with little chance of getting your product to market. Similarly, I wouldn't recommend any "Patent your invention here" websites.Patents are essential, and(for most non-business people) expensive. The patents at my office that I was involved with generally required about $40-60,000 in attorney fees and filing fees to 'prosecute' the patent. Our patents are very conceptual and theoretical. If you have a relatively simple mechanical patent, then it could cost as little as $10,000, as the patents held by a family friend.If you can do a bit of legal research, you might be able to help with the costs, by compiling information for your attorney.You should also already be thinking about the manufacturing or licensing of your product. The patent is only protection for the potential success of your idea - if you don't know how to make/sell your idea or product, a patent won't be anything but a hole in your pocket.Hope this helps! Sources: My opinion CatOfGrey 82 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.

[sebastiano]

What you are asking for is a patentability search. A patentability search is the task of finding and reviewing the relevant patents, patent applications, and non-patent literature that will be used by the patent office in the process of examining the application you propose to file on your own invention.  In an ideal case, the search reviews the entire body of information that the patent examiner will use, will find the same references the examiner would find, and assign them the same importance as the examiner. There is no reliable standard on how close to this ideal a search should approach.  Patent attorneys charge a wide range of fees for this service, depending on a number of factors: the field and complexity of the invention, the detail of the proposed specification, the purpose of the search, the thoroughness desired by the client, the detail of the report, etc.  I have seen quotes range from $150 to $2500.  The most common charges I see are $750 to $1000.  In many cases, you sort of get what you pay for. Absolutely you can perform your own search from start to finish.  Many of the same resources that patent attorneys use are available to the public at no charge.  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office databases are the best place to start.  There is a lot to learn about how they work, but if you plan on inventing more than once it may be worth the investment.  You need to learn the classification system, how to read a patent specification and claims, and how to examine a "file wrapper" or prosecution history. Sources: http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html   JoeG's Recommendations Patent It Yourself Amazon List Price: $49.99 Used from: $31.30 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5(based on 46 reviews) Excellent treatment of patent searching in here, and the rest of the process too. JoeG 82 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.

[Deion]

A patentability search is the task of finding and reviewing the relevant patents, patent applications, and non-patent literature that will be used by the patent office in the process of examining the application you propose to file on your own invention.  In an ideal case, the search reviews the entire body of information that the patent examiner will use, will find the same references the examiner would find, and assign them the same importance as the examiner. There is no reliable standard on how close to this ideal a search should approach.  Patent attorneys charge a wide range of fees for this service, depending on a number of factors: the field and complexity of the invention, the detail of the proposed specification, the purpose of the search, the thoroughness desired by the client, the detail of the report, etc.  I have seen quotes range from $150 to $2500.  The most common charges I see are $750 to $1000.  In many cases, you sort of get what you pay for. Absolutely you can perform your own search from start to finish.  Many of the same resources that patent attorneys use are available to the public at no charge.  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office databases are the best place to start.  There is a lot to learn about how they work, but if you plan on inventing more than once it may be worth the investment.  You need to learn the classification system, how to read a patent specification and claims, and how to examine a "file wrapper" or prosecution history.

[Laefertun]

Avoid advertisements(usually television, radio, occasionally magazine/newspaper) for companies offering to patent your product. Generally, they are scams, with little chance of getting your product to market. Similarly, I wouldn't recommend any "Patent your invention here" websites.Patents are essential, and(for most non-business people) expensive. The patents at my office that I was involved with generally required about $40-60,000 in attorney fees and filing fees to 'prosecute' the patent. Our patents are very conceptual and theoretical. If you have a relatively simple mechanical patent, then it could cost as little as $10,000, as the patents held by a family friend.If you can do a bit of legal research, you might be able to help with the costs, by compiling information for your attorney.You should also already be thinking about the manufacturing or licensing of your product. The patent is only protection for the potential success of your idea - if you don't know how to make/sell your idea or product, a patent won't be anything but a hole in your pocket.Hope this helps!