I would start by determining what you goal of the patent is. Do you want it: 1. for marketing purposes (to advertise a product based on patented technology) 2

I would start by determining what you goal of the patent is. Do you want it: 1. for marketing purposes (to advertise a product based on patented technology) 2. As part of a larger portfolio for future licensing 3. To protect yourself from another company from competing with you. Your answer to the above should guide you on how much to spend on your patent. Case 1, it doesn’t really matter how “good” your patent is a long as it gets issued. Your customers likely won’t bother looking. So maybe try to save so cash and file yourself. Case 2: you want the patent to be as broad as possible. Plus include as many alternate but less optimal solutions. Get a good attorney who is familiar with your field. They may charge $3-600/hour but it ma be worth it. You can often get a jr attorney to do a lot of the tedious parts under the guidance of the Sr partner. Case 3: patents don’t prevent others from infringing. They only give you the right to litigate. Would you be able to afford to litigate? That will cost way more than the patent itself. If the infringer is a large company, they can just litigate you out of your bank account. On this case? Why bother with even filing? The process that works well for me is I write a detailed description of the invention and draft claims. Then hand it over to my attorneys to make better. They tell me my method works as a good data dump and that it saves them a lot of time. Good luck!