I have filed five provisional patent applications and two nonprovisional applications over the last two-and-a-half years. I took and passed the USPTO exam for becoming a registered Patent practitioner. Based on this experience, here is what I’ve learned as an independent inventor filing his own application.

Pros

• The availability of the Internet, the relatively low cost and high capability of personal computers, the availability of resources such as
  • Google search
  • DesignCad drawing software
  • FreePatentsOnline.com
  • Google Patent Search
  • Patent It Yourself book
  • Invention Analysis and Claiming book

make “Do-It-Yourself” patent writing within the reach of many inventors at a relatively low financial cost.

• Writing my own patent applications improved my inventions through an invent-write-improve iterative procedure.
• Patent application writing is an extremely satisfying endeavor for me.

Cons

• Writing my own disclosure and claims is risky since the invention has to be protected from:
  • existing prior art that has been uncovered by inventor at filing
  • prior art that surfaces during patent prosecution after inventor has filed
  • others who will attempt to work around or break the patent
  • infringers who violate the patent after the patent issues

• The claim writing process is very challenging and is difficult for many.
• Evaluating prior art is tricky, because interpreting the claims, based on complex US patent law, is tricky.

Conclusions

The frugal inventor:

• Can and should prepare most of the patent application herself.
• Should consult with a registered patent practitioner for help and guidance as needed to get maximum protection for the invention.