How To Start

A good choice when strong protection of your patent or licensing rights is of prime importance.  The suggested steps towards obtaining a  (full Utility) US Patent application with Bay Area IP are as follows: 

1. UNDERSTAND OUR QUALITY PPA OPTIONS:
   
   Check out our FAQ guide to our quality PPA services
2. DO PATENT SEARCH:
   Unsure if your idea is novel? You may want to search the US Patent Office (USPTO) patent database and Google Patents for patent documents (i.e., prior-art ) to look for patent documents that may be the same or similar to your approach.  Alternatively, while done less often for provisional patent applications, if it is within your cost and time budgets, it is often helpful for you have us perform a professional patentability patent search for you.
3. DETERMINE COST:
   Get a written cost quote by clicking here to Request a Quote (usually within 1 business day) or give us a call.
   
4. RECEIVE ENGAGEMENT MATERIAL:
   When Bay Area IP accepts you as a client, we will provide you with everything you will need to engage us for patent services you seek.
5. ENGAGE US FOR WORK:
   Upon receiving the appropriate retainer payment, we will promptly confirm payment and provide you with an instruction on preparing and submitting your invention submission to us.
6. INVENTION SUBMISSION:
   Securely submit details about your invention and any relevant prior-art (e.g., patents) and/or documentation (e.g., brochures, manuals, presentations, photos, articles, drawings, etc.) to us.
7. PROVISIONAL PATENT DRAFTING AND FILING:
   Having received your invention details and any related prior-art, we will prepare a draft Provisional Patent Application for your review and revision.  We iterate with you until we are both happy with the final work product, and you approve a final version for filing at the USPTO.
8. POST FILING MATTERS:
   Provisional Patent Applications are never examined and expire after one year from filing.  After filing the Provisional Patent Application in the US patent office, we will await for your engagement to proceed on preparing and filing the corresponding non-provisional, regular US patent application (e.g., utility, or full, patent application) or any international patent applications before the one year deadline after the Provisional Patent Application was filed.
9. For a better idea of how the patent process works, from beginning to end, have a look at this interactive, visual flow chart of the patent process.

1. UNDERSTAND OUR LOWEST COST PPA OPTIONS:
   Read our FAQ/Help guide to our Cost Oriented PPA services.
2. As you can appreciate, to offer the low flat rates as we do for our cost oriented services, all communications with Bay Area IP must be by email.
3. ORDER ONLINE:
   After you have identified the cost oriented Provisional Patent Application service that best suits your needs, you order it online. Follow the instructions on the order form, and direct any questions you may have to us through our online form.
   
4. INVENTION SUBMISSION:
   Upon receiving  payment, we will promptly email you payment confirmation and our proprietary PPA preparation guide and other information helpful to preparing your provisional patent application.
   
5. PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATION DRAFTING AND FILING:
   We work with you by email according to the level of service you procured, and once filed, you will have instant “Patent-Pending” status.

1.     To procure a flat-fee, prior-art Patent researching service click here.  You should determine the level of Patent search that you believe you may require.

3.     Follow the instructions on the order form, and direct any questions you may have to us by email.  We are happy to assess your situation and help you determine the type of search that best suits your needs.

4.     Upon receving payment, we will email you payment confirmation soon thereafter.  Your confirmation email will include a special invention disclosure form (IDF) for you to complete which will sufficiently document your invention for us to perform an effective search.  You then securely submit your IDF, and any relevant prior-art (e.g., already found patents), and/or documentation (e.g., brochures, photos, articles, drawings, etc.) that you know of to us.

5.     We will promptly perform the search and securely deliver a detailed search report to you, including a patentability opinion if procured.

6.     Upon review of the search results, we can then determine how to best proceed.  If the assessment of the patentability search was favorable for patenting, we will advise you on all aspects of the patent application process.