Week 12 Post 1: "Patent it Yourself"?

After Monday's class, I wanted to see if there are available resources out there to help you patent your own stuff. Here is a famous "patent-it-yourself" book, many copies sold on Amazon, almost rated 5-star by the 35 customers that have bought and reviewed. A $28.96 Patent It Yourself: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Filing at the U.S. Patent Office. Sounds like a great bargain – given how much you'd have to pay patent attorneys, this really would save you a lot of money (assuming it works). On the front cover it says, "Learn about new patent laws, perform a patent search, and file your patent application". I am interested in exploring whether it is really feasible to do it this way.

Patent attorneys are highly qualified individuals.  In addition to having to successfully complete law school and taking a State Bar Examination, patent attorneys must have a scientific background or else they cannot even sit for the Patent Bar Examination. It is true that one might have the technical background, but he or she might lack the relevant experience in drafting a patent application. This professional who has spent years of time training, and years of time reading, writing and prosecuting patent applications for 40 to 60 hours a week is likely to know more, and way more efficient. Inventors would have to spend hours and hours of examining and learning about the patent system in order to be fluent in this special language. In addition, inventing and describing an invention might be two fundamentally different concepts. Quoting from Chief Judge Howard Markey of the United States Court of Appeals in 1988, "[it] illustrates one of the many difficult dichotomies that lurk in the lacunae of patent law. On one side rests the very important, statutorily-created necessity of employing the clearest possible wording in preparing the specification and claims of a patent, one of “the most difficult legal instruments to draw with accuracy.”  On the other lies the equally important, judicially-created necessity of determining infringement without the risk of injustice that may result from a blindered focus on words alone.

Patent it Yourself could be a good book, and readers might actually successfully get their patents going if they follow through every single step described in the book, and acquire good insight regarding the industry they are getting into, however, I doubt if it is really efficient to do it this way. Several hundred dollars vs lots of time, I am guessing it is probably wiser to spend some time figuring out what is the best way to start the patent process (e.g. when and where to get an attorney) under a budget.