how do i get a patent on an idea? what is the cost?

Question

my brother and i have come up with a couple of ideas that we would like to patent. how can we go about doing this? also, do you need to have detailed plans drawn up on how to accomplish your idea or can you also patent the idea itself? these are both ideas for cars, his can be drawn up in great mechanical detail but mine is more of a written one. thank you!

Answer 1

I used to work for the USPTO and now work for a patent law firm and I suggest you get in contact with a patent law firm to help you with the process because filing a patent application is not a easy or cheap as one may think. If you have the firm assist you with drafting the patent app. w/ drawings, plus filing it, you are looking to spend at least $7-15,000 depending on the number of claims, illustrations etc. Since you guys are a small entity (an inidividual/a company w/ less that 500 employees) gov't. fees are cut in half. Once the patent app. is filed, it can take up to 1-2 years, in some cases, even more before the application gets examined. Once examined, the Examiner will most likely issue a rejection based on the claims/prior art/drawings and will issue a rejection which your attorney will have to prepare an amendment to object. The amendments would generally cost in bet. $1-2,000 or even more in some cases. I find that most patent apps. get around 3 rejections on avg. before they become allowed for patenting. Overall, we're looking at 2-4 years, and at least $20,000 to obtain a patent. I suggest going to uspto.gov for more info.

Answer 2

You first need a preliminary patent which costs a few hundred dollars. Then you get a year to submit all the plans/ descriptions/photos of the invention. By doing that, everyone in the world can see your invention by subscribing to the patent database. If you want a full patent in the USA, it'll cost 10,000-100,000 depending on the catagory, and that's not counting your lawyer's fees. If you want real protection, you'll need to get a patent in every other country in the world, at approx the same cost per country. That will cover you for 20 years, then anyone can use it for free. Of course, anyone can infringe your patent. It's not illegal to infringe a patent, but you can take that person to court (at your cost if you lose).

If I were you, I'd take the cheaper and more secret option of a trade secret. KFC and Coke are trade secrets. They don't disclose their recipes, there's no 20 year time limit, it's free. Find and engineering company to make prototypes and sell the secret to a car company.

Answer 3

It is not possible to protect ideas but rather the representation of that idea.

NOLO is a great, free informational site. Also, be sure to read what the USPTO (United States Patent & Trademark Office) has to say about patents.

Research, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

* Patent It Yourself (11th Edition) by David Pressman
* Patents and How to Get One : A Practical Handbook by U.S. Department of Commerce
* How To Make Patent Drawings Yourself: A Patent It Yourself Companion by Jack Lo
* The Inventor's Notebook: A Patent It Yourself Companion by Fred E. Grissom

There are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 4

Visit the US Patent Office's website at http://www.uspto.gov/.

Last I heard patent applications were $375 per submission.

Also, you will need to submit technical patent illustrations, so hire a good graphic designer, technical illustrator or CAD designer to create them.