Initially off: You cannot.
You cannot patent "an notion." It is against the law. Patents can only be awarded for items, processes, compositions, machines, manufactured articles, inventions. Abstract theories or suggestions, by themselves, can't be patented. The US Supreme Court generally reaffirms this fundamental point. You have to come up with a little bit extra than a superb idea to get a patent.
So you have taken your thought and created a prototype? Now you've got something to patent. Attorneys would in all probability disagree on the initially step to take. Some might say to document it in an inventor's notebook. Some may say to work on it and develop it. My guidance: speak with an lawyer when you are reasonably close to a "finished" product. Possibly that only takes 3 prototypes, perhaps it takes 3 hundred. As soon as you have got something you think is really diverse, actually new, and almost complete, talk to a patent attorney.
Important in you ability to get a patent is when you initially disclosed it. Above all, respect this one-year deadline: as soon as you've disclosed your invention to somebody without an obligation to keep it secret, you have 1 year to patent it in the US. Right after that, you lose the suitable. In other countries, you lose the right if you tell or show the invention to a person ahead of you file a patent application.
A patent lawyer could recommend a couple of points when you first talk to him or her. They ought to listen to what you have come up with, take a look at it, hear what your ultimate plans and goals are, and talk about your options. Some could advocate a provisional patent application - a sort of location-holder that can have advantageous early-filing positive aspects. Some may possibly suggest you go ahead with a full utility patent application. Others may well recommend you perform a patent search very first to ascertain regardless of whether your invention has been invented or described just before, in which case it could not be eligible for a patent.
If you proceed with a patent application, an lawyer need to draft the application. Just as you would want a plumber to move your toilet supply and drain lines across the bathroom, or a cardiologist to carry out your bypass, you want a patent attorney to write the patent application. Performing it yourself can render your invention worthless. There are lots of rules that have to be followed, many court circumstances that inform how a patent application is read and construed, and a patent lawyer will be aware of these and use them when drafting the application.
The patent attorney will function closely with you ahead of filing the application. You will speak with him or her often, describing the invention and its achievable variations. When the application is prepared, you'll have to sign some papers verifying the contents and veracity of the application and acknowledging the duties you have to the Patent Office when the application is filed. The application is then filed along with a set of fees paid to the Patent Workplace. Then begins the waiting game.
The Patent Workplace is extremely backlogged - it can take 2 to four years before the Patent Office sends a 1st response letter to you. When it does, it will either permit your application, or it will make rejections and objections that point out difficulties with your application. At that point, you can abandon the application or make modifications and send them back in. If you continue with the application, the Patent Office will send a second letter. Occasionally at this point, you might have to continue arguing against the Patent Office's rejections. Sometimes, it is alot more worthwhile to just let the application die. Hopefully, though, your application will be approved and it can concern as a patent. You will have to pay another fee - an concern fee - to have your application truly turn out to be an official patent.
Immediately after the patent troubles, you will have to pay regular maintenance fees to maintain it alive. Throughout this time, you can monitor the patent to see if others are infringing it. You may also want to market place it and try to license it to competitors or providers that could use your product. 20 years soon after the filing date of the patent application, your patent will expire. At that point, the public can start out producing your invention without having your permission.
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