Filing your own patent (Pro Se) is one of  the worst mistakes I see as a licensing agent.  It will lead to many avoidable problems if you work with someone who has patent expertise.

Why Filing Your Own Patent (Pro Se) is a Bad Idea

It doesn’t matter how many classes you take, you can’t learn the finesse required to write a good patent that bumps up against other similar patents. Writing a quality patent is an art, one mastered with copious experience.  There is no way you can learn “the Dance” that the examiner does with your registered patent attorney that results in having the examiner agree to allow the patent to issue.

How to Get a Patent the Right Way

If you believe that you really have something worth patenting then do it right. This is not the time to convince yourself that you can write a 40 to 50 page document.  A quality patent will require dependent and independent claims and drawings to catch the attention of a company that would be willing to license. Most legitimate companies won’t even consider a pro se applicant. They just won’t take the risk so neither should you.

Avoid Patent Mistakes

If you want to write your own patents, GO TO LAW SCHOOL and get registered with the USPTO. Anyone who encourages you to do your own either doesn’t care if you succeed or fail or us just naive.

Do the “gut check”: if it doesn’t sound right, it probably isn’t right. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. Inventing is a gamble. It is going to cost you some money and the upfront money will be yours! There is a reason registered patents attorneys get paid a lot. You need a good one (not necessarily an expensive one) to do their job so that you can do yours.

For some additional information on hiring an attorney, check out one of my other blogs. Hiring an Attorney

You can also see what the USPTO has to say about using a licensed patent attorney  here.  USPTO patent practitioner advice