Patent question

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If I consult an engineer about an invention idea, who gets the patent?

(I'm in the U.S.)

I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I am aware, whoever pays the fees owns the patent.

What follows is my understanding of the issue:

It used to be that whoever came up with the invention first got the patent. There were several common things to try to keep records of when you had the idea. One was to write the details in a signed and dated notebook. Another was to write it down, mail it to yourself, and file the letter without opening it.

I have no idea how much either of these helped.

I think that we now have a "first to file". You could write it up and file. Note, however, that the patent filing has to describe the invention enough that anyone with an ordinary skill in the art could build the device from the description in the patent. If you need an engineer to come up with those details, then it's going to be difficult for you to be first to file if the engineer does it himself.

In any case, unless you have experience writing patent applications, you really need a patent attorney to help and they aren't cheap. I don't know what it would cost these days, but it wouldn't surprise me if it weren't $100,000 or more and it would surprise me if it were less than $50,000.

Without a patent attorney, you could easily end up with a patent that has no value because of your own mistakes.

$100,000?

I thought the whole purpose of getting a patent was to make a lot of money.

Here is more specific information:

https://ipwatchdog.com/2015/04/04/the-c ... /id=56485/

You can also go through a patent company, but they will take your money and a large percentage of the money made (if any). Ever wonder why they keep advertising on T.V. at different times? They are making money on those who are successful and those who are not. In grad school, I contacted one about an invention (but left out some details on purpose). They loved my idea and wanted to push ahead at a cost of $15,000 + their percentage of sales (50% or more). I dropped it at that stage. Sure, they could steal my idea, but they would have to fix those missing details first.