What is required to file for a patent?

Yes.

A patent application is one of the most complicated legal documents to write. To begin with you need to know what kind of patent you need for your invention. There are several types, design, utility, and plant. If it is a household good I strongly suggest to do a patent search. Patentability searches are encouraged on household products. See, one of the requirements for patentability is novelty or that the product is new and has not been patented anywhere in the world. Usually, humans invent things in different locations on earth about the same time when they are faced with similar problems. Even if we find something close to your invention we can always reengineer and design around your invention. Yes, we can file a patent application without the creation of a physical prototype. Actually when I file my patent applications, I try to show as many examples of similar goods or modifications of your invention to cover as much ground as possible. Nevertheless, creating a prototype is important, and therefore we draft out patent drawings in 3D, creating virtual models that are ready to be printed in 3D printers or stereo lithographic machines. We can help you create a prototype. There is nothing like having a prototype in your hand, something you can actually test.

Yes, a prototype is not needed to file a patent application. Your written description and drawings should be sufficient to enable a person skilled in your technology to make and use the invention.

You can file a patent application without having actually built a prototype, provided you can describe your invention in sufficient enough detail so as to enable one having ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention. For example, if the invention is for software, you do not need to actually write the code for the software product, but you must be able to describe the features and operation of the software product in sufficient detail such that a computer programmer could write the code without undue experimentation. The particular level of description required to enable your invention will depend in some part on the details of your invention, and therefore you should discuss the specifics of your invention with a patent attorney in order to get proper guidance for proceeding to protect your invention.

You can file a patent without a prototype, as long as you can describe the invention sufficiently to allow someone else to build it without undue experimentation. To obtain a strong, broad patent, the cost can be rather large. Even a good simple patent will cost $9,000 or more. There are cheaper alternatives, but I have not found them to result in worthwhile patents. To file a patent, you need a detailed description of the invention, the signature of the inventor, the filing fee and a drafted patent application. No two patent attorneys will draft the same patent application. Some will draft good applications, some will draft bad applications. The value of your patent depends in large part on the quality of the application.