Writing Your Own Patent

Writing your own patent? Do a business plan first.

Some inventors write their own patent applications. This can be a very valuable exercise because forcing yourself to put the invention down on paper can help you better understand the invention, as well as think through new versions of the invention.

In many cases, these pro se applicant are trying to save a couple dollars by skipping the cost of the patent attorney.

The best piece of advice to anyone considering writing their own patent applications:

Do a business plan.

Figure out how much that patent is potentially worth, then determine whether or not it makes sense to write a patent application yourself or to hire it out.

Always remember: provisional patent applications typically *hurt* more than they help.

A good rule of thumb is to either write your own patent application or do none at all when the yearly revenue of your product is $100,000 or less. When the potential income of the invention is over $1,000,000, you should have the patent professionally written. When the potential income is between $100K and $1M, use your judgment.

Most patents are worthless because there are problems in the patent drafting and prosecution – even for patents written by patent attorneys or agents. The percentage of worthless patents that are written by the inventors are much, much higher. It is simply too easy to make an innocuous mistake that can doom your patent to failure. Even if your patent is granted, it may not be sound enough to survive licensing and litigation.

BlueIronIP was created to meet the need of an inventor who needs strong patent protection prior to raising funds for the business. Please call us. We would love to hear your story and see how we can help.