I have an idea for a patent. Do I need legal council to help surch existing and file for a new patent?

Please see the Guide regarding what to do when you have an invention. It is found on my page. Eventually you will probably want to speak with an attorney. Work related to patent applications is expensive. But there are options. Good luck.

Do your own research on the patenting process before you call or step foot into a patent attorney's office. When I see inventor's who know nothing about the patenting process the amount of information the inventor must quickly digest in order to make intelligent patenting decisions is invariably overwhelming. It is a very inefficient use of time for both the inventor and the attorney.

Go to amazon.com or some other online book seller, query "patent" and buy a book or two on the subject. I recommend the ones entitled Patent It Yourself and From Patent To Profit. After you digest the information then call a patent attorney.

You should definitely consult with a patent agent or attorney to handle this matter for you. Good luck.

Short answer is, yes. It is difficult to do file and prosecute your own patent. As mentioned above, Patent it Yourself is a great book to get some information on the topic. After reading up on it, you may feel that you have gained enough knowledge to file your own patent application. But you definitely have not - the manual of patent examining procedure (MPEP) is a 2500-page book, where each page has dozens of minute rules. If you accidentally do something that falls outside of standard procedure, your patent can easily be invalidated. So the best thing for ANY inventor to do is to become knowledgeable on the patent process, and then find a competent patent attorney.