You might want to file a provisional patent as you think about the commercial viability of the patent. http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/10/19/good-bad-ugly-truth

You might want to file a provisional patent as you think about the commercial viability of the patent. http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/10/19/good-bad-ugly-truth-about-provisional-patent-applications-2/id=45766/ http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/10/19/good-bad-ugly-truth-abo... "Another thing inventors can do to reduce costs is to first start by filing a provisional patent application. A provisional patent application needs to disclose the invention completely as would a nonprovisional patent application, but the exact formalities are greatly reduced making it easier to prepare, meaning it costs less. We can attach documents to support the originally drafted provisional patent application, and we focus on getting as much as possible into the document. In my experience most inventors who pursue the provisional do so because they have made an interesting advance and want to protect what they can now while they continue to refine and work on the invention. Done in that way a provisional patent application makes all the sense in the world because it gives you protection with respect to what you have presently and lets you continue to work to improve the invention over 12 months before you need to file a nonprovisional patent application. The cost for attorney time alone for a provisional patent application is typically at least $2,000. The filing fee is $130 for a small entity and drawings typically cost $100 to $125 per page, so a high quality provisional patent application for a mechanical or electrical device can typically be prepared and filed for $2,500 to $3,000. As with nonprovisional patent applications, the technology involved and the complexity of the invention do greatly affect the quoted price for a provisional patent application. For example, for computer related inventions and software the cost to prepare and file a provisional patent application is typically $6,000 plus the filing fee and drawing costs. The increased cost for a high quality provisional patent application that deals with software is due to the reality that so much more information is required in these applications. You really need to describe the complete architecture of the system and drill down to the algorithms, routines and sub-routines. See A Guide to Patenting Software, Building Better Software Patents and Patenting Business Methods and Software in the U.S. Of course, these are just ballpark estimates." http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2015/04/04/the-cost-of-obtaining-a-patent-in-the-us/id=56485/ http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2015/04/04/the-cost-of-obtaining-a... Some people just prepare their own provisional patent, without the help of an attorney, but you might not get the protection you want if you do this.