Is there a way for you to patent your invention for free?

Question

Is there a way for you to patent your invention for free?

Answer 1

Well, you can't do it for free, even when doing all the work yourself. There are some fees that you need to pay to the US Patent office.

Go take a look at the www.uspto.gov as suggested from another responder.

There is a way to protect your idea for only a few hundred dollars in fees.

Look for info at that website for something called a "provisional patent".

You can document your invention fairly easily for this and then send it in with the fees and all the required documents (you can get all this from the website).

What this does is give you a year to go the full patent route, spending the larger amount of time and money.  the good thing is, the year gives you time to further investigate whether your idea is worth spending the additional money on, or perhaps, find someone who would be willing to invest some cash to work with you on developing it.

Personally, I would stay away from all those online company's that say they will patent stuff for you.  

Also, something to note:  It usually takes about a year to get a patent approved.  Filing does not mean that you will get an approval at all.  You need to get online and do some patent searches (through that same website)  to get an idea whether someone has already patented your idea.  If you hire a patent attorney, this is one thing he will do for you before submitting the patent.  No point in spending teh money and effort, if your invention is already there.

Also, a patent only protects you if you are willing to spend the money to take someone to court over it.  But what it does do for you, is give you the ability to liscense or sell your idea to a larger company.  And that is really its value.

You also may want to control your invention in otehr ways, like trade secret, copyright, etc.  Once you get something patented, the idea becomes public information, available to anyone.  They can take all your info, use it, and just make some changes to it, and then file a new patent!  This is one bad aspect of patenting your idea, it becomes available for all to see.

Good luck!

Answer 2

TELL ABOUT YOUR INVENTION I WILL DO IT FOR YOU

YES YOU CAN ABOUT 500

Answer 3

No.  Patenting requires a lawyer and usually costs 50,000 plus dollars.

Answer 4

No.  Patenting DOES NOT require a lawyer, but there are application fees to get one and additional fees to keep it in force.

see https://uspto.connectsolutions.com/conce...