You really really really don't want to do this if you can avoid it. It's not because there is magic here, it's because the set of rules, regulations, and inter

You really really really don't want to do this if you can avoid it. It's not because there is magic here, it's because the set of rules, regulations, and interpretations to follow is voluminous. The document you want is called the MPEP. https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/index.html https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/index.html This covers the rules/regulations/interpretations/etc that they will expect you to know/follow, and examiners to know/follow. In that sense, it literally does cover everything you'd need to know to do this right, and how the examiner/etc will look at your patent application, etc. It's even understandable by normal human beings and goes to great lengths to explain its reasoning and the case law that supports their views. However, it's also thousands of pages. Now, it's definitely possible and in my experience, examiners are fairly nice to pro-se applicants and try to be helpful. But this would really be a thing you'd want to have to spend a significant amount of time doing. For the vast majority of people, it's much more effective to hire someone who will charge a fixed fee. (for a single person filing a patent for the firs time, you'd qualify as a micro-entity, so most of your fees would be the lawyer/agent for sure) But, if you decide to do it, that's the document you want. (And just as a disclaimer: i don't make a living patenting stuff and think patents in general hurt a lot more than they help. So i'm really not the type to tell you to go spend money on a patent lawyer if i can avoid it)