Patent Attorney

• Should you hire a patent attorney to help me? Employing the assistance of a patent attorney will make the process easier. The patent attorney will search to see if a patent has been granted previously for the same idea. They will also prepare your patent application. The USPTO provides a list of patent attorneys by geographical region on their official roster. You can access this list online at its website, uspto.gov. Another option is to contact your local bar association for a list of patent attorneys near you.
  
  The fees for patent attorneys are not standardized by the USPTO. The inventor and the patent attorney must come to their own agreement. Each attorney has the right to charge what they feel their service is worth. To better estimate your final bill, the USPTO suggests, "you may wish to ask for estimate charges for: (a) the search (b) preparation of the patent application, and (c) USPTO prosecution."
  
  

Patent Pending

• What do the terms "patent pending" and "patent applied for" mean? They are phrases often seen on products. These are official terms from the USPTO, showing that a patent application was officially filed. It is against the law to use these terms if no application has been filed. Those who mislead the public with these terms are subject to a fine.
  
  

The Names on the Patent

• Whose name goes on the patent if more than one person was involved? Inventions are often group projects and not developed solely by one person. If two or more people are involved in creating an invention, they can apply for the patent jointly. The names on the patent represent only the person or people who were instrumental in creating the idea. The USPTO states, "If ... one of these persons has provided all of the ideas of the invention, and the other has only followed instructions in making it, the person who contributed the ideas is the sole inventor and the patent application and patent shall be in his/her name alone."
  
  

Marketing

• Will the USPTO provide assistance with marketing? The USPTO provides no assistance to market your idea. Once the patent has been obtained, the next step is to market your idea. However, the USPTO will "publish for a fee, at the request of a patent owner, a notice in the Official Gazette that the patent is available for licensing or sale" if you would like to sell it. For assistance with marketing after you obtain your patent, contact the Chamber of Commerce in your area.