What are the steps in patenting a product?

I would suggest you consult patent attorney. What you are essentially asking is how do i do a patent? Simply stated it is not something that can be done properly without a lot of experience.

While anyone can prepare and file their own patent application, unless you have a lot of experience in doing so, we highly recommend finding a good patent attorney to work with on this. The patenting process is very technical and fraught with land mines for the inexperienced. One should approach the legal fees and costs associated with protecting one?s invention as an investment in the business because otherwise you will likely lose tremendous value otherwise available. We routinely work with individual inventors as well as Fortune 500 companies simply because we are a very efficient, boutique intellectual property and business law firm with 14 attorneys. This give us the reliability the large companies need and the cost competitiveness individual inventors and smaller businesses demand.

Check the US Patent and Trademark Office's website www.uspto.gov. It provides both basic patent information and detailed explanations on how to file and application.

There are four stages: 1. Due diligence: do a search (or more) to see if you have a decent chance at getting a patent. This step is optional but highly recommended as it can strongly influence your success and future costs. 2. Prepare and file an application. www.uspto.gov is where you would electronically file the application and you can get good information there. One note, the rules governing patent applications and registrations is about 10,000 pages long. The rules and cases governing how much a patent is worth are even more. The chances of you, with no training or experience, writing your own application, having it allowed and having it be worth anything are astronomically bad. Work with an attorney or risk having a patent application that is clearly worthless. 3. Negotiate allowance with the patent office: this stage usually starts about 2-3 years after you file your application and usually starts with a total rejection of your patent application. Think of the patent office as goalies trying to stop bad patents or as insurance companies trying to not pay out on a claim. That is just how it is. You have to convince them that they should allow it and that they will not get in trouble for having allowed it. Again, the chances of you doing that properly without experienced help are very slim. 4. Allowance and maintenance: There are four sets of fees and papers to file with the patent office that get your patent registered once they have agreed to allow it and that keep it alive during its duration. They are spaced about 3.5 years apart and you can't pay them before their payment window opens and if you pay after the final date you can pay then your patent is cancelled. Be sure to keep track of these deadlines or you lose the whole thing. The patent office will not send you reminders.

Visit the US Patent & Trademark Office website - www.uspto.gov - for free information about the patent process, fees, searching - everything a new inventor needs. One note of caution - the US Patent Law was just changed (3/16/13) such that the "first inventor to file" will be eligible for a patent on his/her invention, as opposed to another inventor with the same idea, who files second. Thus, filing "early" is recommended - once the invention is "ready to be patented." Here is an outline of the utility patent process from the USPTO website: Patent Process Overview * Step 1, Applicant - Has your invention already been patented? * Search the Patent Full-Text and Full-Page Image Databases * If already patented, end of process * If not already patented, continue to Step 2 * Step 2, Applicant - What type of Application are you filing? * Design Patent (ornamental characteristics) * Plant Patent (new variety of asexually reproduced plant) * Utility Patent (most common) (useful process, machine, article of manufacture, composition of matter) * Step 3, Applicant - Determine Filing Strategy * File Globally? * Need international protection? * File in U.S.? - continue to Step 4 * Step 4, Applicant - Which type of Utility Patent Application to file? * Provisional or * Nonprovisional * Step 5, Applicant - Consider expedited examination * Prioritized Examination * Accelerated Examination Program * First Action Interview * Patent Prosecution Highway * Step 6, Applicant - Who Should File? * File yourself (Pro Se) * Use a Registered Attorney or Agent (Recommended) * Step 7, Applicant - Prepare for electronic filing * Determine Application processing fees * Apply for a Customer Number and Digital Certificate * Step 8, Applicant - Apply for Patent using Electronic Filing System as a Registered e-Filer (Recommended) * About EFS Web * Step 9, USPTO - USPTO examines application * Check Application Status * Allowed? * Yes, go to Step 12 * No, continue to Step 10 * Step 10, Applicant - Applicant files replies requests for reconsideration, and appeals as necessary * Step 11, USPTO - If objections and rejection of the examiner are overcome, USPTO sends Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) due * Step 12, Applicant - Applicant pays the issue fee and the publication fee * USPTO Grants Patent * Step 13, Applicant - Maintenance fees due 3 1/2, 7 1/2, and 11 1/2 years after patent grant * Download the Utility Patent Application Guide.