2/09    does anyone have any experience applying for a patent as an
        independent inventor, i.e. without the aid of an employer or
        institution (but not without a lawyer)?
        \_ Are you prepared to shell out $10K out of your own pocket?  If
           not, forget it.
        \_ Generally if you're doing it via an employer, the government, UC,
           or some other institution you don't own it anyway so it doesn't
           matter.  On your own you go find yourself a patent lawyer and shell
           out big bucks for them to write a decent patent and do prior art
           searches, etc.  It's important to know what a patent is.  A patent
           is the right to exclude.  It gives you the right to keep others from
           using your invention for 20 years from the date of filing (in the
           US).  It provides no other benefit.  It isn't instant wealth.  And
           defending your patent from infringers could easily take millions of
           dollars in legal fees and years in court without any guarantee of
           success.  Good luck!
        \_ A friend of mine has applied for about a dozen patents as a
           independent inventor. He found a good patent lawyer to help
           him with the applications. It took several iterations with
           his lawyer to work out the first application, but the others
           were quite easy. Make sure that the patent lawyer you get
           is familiar with the area of your invention (ie if you invented
           a specialized asic, get a lawyer who knows how to file hardware
           patents), otherwise you may end up spending a lot of money
           to file a patent that doesn't completely cover your invention.