by shawnreilly on 6/5/14, 4:48 AM
I had a bad experience attempting to get a patent done for one of my previous (bootstrapped, and failed) startups. I basically paid a lot of money for a document that did not properly describe what we were building, and no claims. Granted, I must accept the fault, since my results indicated that I could not properly articulate what we were building (even though it seemed pretty straightforward to me). So I realized there is a problem with this; Nobody else knows the details of what you're building better than you do. So even if you do seek professional help, be prepared to properly document and explain in extreme detail what you are building. With my experience, I ended up getting motivated to learn more about doing it myself. I called the USPTO relentlessly to learn everything about the process. They won't give you legal advice pertaining to the patent, but they will help you with process and fee's. Then I started reading relevant patents for fun, and learned about the structure of the document, and what some of the requirements are. In my opinion the hardest part about writing a patent, and the most important, is the claim(s) section. It is my own personal belief (and some may disagree) that it's completely acceptable for an entrepreneur to write the technical portion of the document (with drawings). Similar to answering the Y-Combinator Application, I find it to be a good exercise in validating how well you know your own product. With the technical portion completed, then I would approach the professionals to write the claims. You can file a provisional patent yourself for under $200 (more for fast track). You can also revise it, and/or add claim(s) at a later date. Depending on what resources you have available, this might be your only option. But the general rule still applies; you usually get what you pay for. So it is definitely recommended to seek professional help. Especially considering the implications of the claims and wording later on down the road when you (possibly) run into a situation where it needs to be used (perhaps defensively, perhaps offensively).