
Ask HN: How does an individual file a patent? How much would it cost? - stonecharioteer
If I were to patent something, how would I go about doing so? Has anyone here filed a patent independently? My company can file patents but I would like to file one, unrelated to my work on every single way, (I work in finance and this is electronics, and IoT). However, how would I go about it? How much will it cost?
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billsimms
If you haven't already done so then you might read "Patent It Yourself Your
Step-by-Step Guide to Filing at the U.S. Patent Office" by David Pressman,
published by Nolo. There is a vast amount of expertise in that book. There are
also "How to Make Patent Drawings" and "Inventor's Cookbook" to go along with
that, also from Nolo, but I have not read those.

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codingdave
[https://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/patent-
process...](https://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/patent-process-
overview)

People file independently all the time. Patent lawyers also exist if you want
help. Fees can be anywhere from under $100 for a provisional application, to a
few thousand if you hire some help with the filing and drawings.

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dnh44
We did ours semi-independently, where we wrote the patent and then paid a
patent attorney to look it over and file it. This cost about £5000 all the way
to and including the PCT stage.

