The debate over whether patents are a worthy safeguard or a money sink is long-standing on this site. But given that so many startups are cash poor (as we’ve been discussing over the last few days “here”:http://www.foundread.com/view/zero-cash-plan and “here”:http://www.foundread.com/view/a-zero-cash-case) we want to know, *when a cash-strapped founder decides patent protections are necessary, is it a good idea to try and do the application process yourself?* Do you really need a high-priced lawyer? Or are there other low-cost ways of getting, at least, your “patent pending” docs filed with the U.S. Patent & Trade Office so you have the initial protections you need? Or are self-filed patent docs simply not good enough? Do you really need the “endorsement” of a lawyer, and a marquis lawyer at that?
*If you’ve done this, and have suggestions, please share.*
{"source":"https:\/\/gigaom.com\/2007\/07\/19\/question-of-the-day-self-patenting\/wijax\/49e8740702c6da9341d50357217fb629","varname":"wijax_dc64974174ac747cca547488d5813040","title_element":"header","title_class":"widget-title","title_before":"%3Cheader%20class%3D%22widget-title%22%3E","title_after":"%3C%2Fheader%3E"}