| For those who cannot afford to dish out | | | | process in a notebook. Sign and date each |
| thousands of dollars for a patent lawyer, do | | | | entry and have two reliable witnesses sign as |
| it yourself patents can be a great | | | | well. |
| alternative. Do it yourself patents can be | | | | |
| done if you are up to the challenge. It is | | | | 2. Make sure your invention qualifies for |
| not impossible although the biggest drawback | | | | patent protection. In do it yourself patents |
| on do it yourself patents is that you are not | | | | you need to show that your invention is new, |
| afforded the luxury of having professional | | | | non-obvious and useful. |
| advice. | | | | |
| | | | 3. Assess the commercial potential of your |
| There are some of the advantages of do it | | | | invention. Before you spend the time and |
| yourself patents that you cannot overlook | | | | money to file a patent application, you need |
| though. Do it yourself patents could | | | | to research the market you hope to enter. |
| certainly save you money. Also, doing it | | | | |
| yourself enables you to learn several skills | | | | 4. Do a thorough patent search. To make sure |
| most especially in research. When yo register | | | | your invention is new, you need to search all |
| a patent yourself the first and most basic | | | | the earlier developments in your field. This |
| step is to make sure that your invention | | | | involves searching U.S. (patents, as well as |
| qualifies for a patent or what you call | | | | other publications like scientific and |
| patentable. Also, to qualify with your | | | | technical journals, to find related |
| patents application you need to describe all | | | | inventions. |
| aspects of your invention. Some steps on do | | | | |
| it yourself patents are easy, others are more | | | | 5. Prepare and file an application with the |
| difficult. | | | | USPTO. This step on do it yourself patents |
| | | | lets you have a choice when you file with the |
| As with all new endeavors, you will succeed | | | | USPTO. You can file a full-blown regular |
| by trial and error. But by taking the process | | | | patent application (RPA) or you can file a |
| of doing it yourself patents one step at a | | | | provisional patent application (PPA) on the |
| time, you can acquire a patent later on. | | | | invention. Filing a PPA allows you to claim |
| | | | patent pending status for the invention but |
| The following are the basic steps you need to | | | | involves only a small fraction of the work |
| do when applying for a patent: | | | | and cost of a regular patent application. All |
| | | | that is required to file a PPA is a fee of |
| 1. Keep a careful record of your invention. | | | | $80 ($160 for large companies), a detailed |
| When doing your patent yourself it is | | | | description of the invention, telling how to |
| important to keep a record of the invention | | | | make and use it, and an informal drawing. |