If you have this great idea and you want a patent on it?

Question

Do you have to have and attorney to write up the patent?
A friend said, "He filed a patent and then sold the idea and patent to a computer company for a bundle and they market it and he still gets 0.1 % of the prophet. Computer game.
But failed to say wether he had to hire an attorney to file.

Answer 1

It is a good idea but not required. You can file without an attorney, but if you do a bad job of writing up the application yourself, one of two things may happen:
a. Your application is denied and you do not receive the patent
b. You receive the patent and pay for it, but later when someone infringes the patent and you sue them, you lose.

Answer 2

All of the people that I know that have patents have used a patent attorney. Its worth a few hundred dollars to get it filed right.