How do you go about applying for Patent
 

I know you have to find if you have an original idea, but looking at google they all look like scams that you may pay some huge fee to or they could steal your idea.

I already know the easiest way to make money on the internet and TV. It's telling people how to make money on the internet and TV!

So how do I find out if my idea has already been thought of and been registered?

You can search for patents at the US Patent and Trademark Office Website.

You could look for an Intellectual Property Lawyer who could help you fill out the paperwork for the most minimal of fees, basically they just look over your paperwork making sure that it's filled out correctly and accurately. This is the method that I have chosen to patent one of my products.

The challenge with registering anything IP owned, you have to be willing to defend it vigorously.

I think that the most efficient way is to contact a patent attorney. That's what they do. They'll also file the patent if it's possible. Most decent sized reputable law firms have at least one patent attorney on staff or that they can recommend. They're usually specialists, like litigators or bankruptcy attorneys, so you don't want any Tom, Dick or Harry. If you know an attorney and trust him, I'd ask for a recommendation.

I suppose you could also do the search yourself, but I really don't know you go about doing that.

Cynthetiq, how's the search at US patent office is exhausting? How about accurate? Costs?

FREE.

As far as accuracy it has to be accurate, that's what everyone bases their patents and trademarks off of.

there's alot of stuff to weed through so I guess it could be exhausting, but it is no difficult than using Google. The link I provided up top goes directly to their search engine page.

You specifically want to use "Patents and published patent applications" to find items that are "like" or "similar" to your idea. When you hire a patent attorney, they spend hours doing this kind of research, either them directly or someone on their team.

Below is a link to a "Process to produce a reduced fat potato chip"

I almost forgot you'll need to check both Issued Patents and Published Applications, the Published Applications is where the Pantent Pending comes into play, since sometimes it can take years to be awarded the patent.

I spent 5 minutes looking at a page and a half and I'm blurry eyed and nothing sounded remotely like my search terms. I can see why you need a lawyer. I couldn't understand half of what I was reading.

Any idea what a lawyer costs?

upwards of $5,000, I was quoted $15,000 for a full service, search and appilcation and if they find someone's patent that matches yours... you don't get any money back.

I recommend being patient and spending time reading. it's not as difficult as it seems first blush. find a product you understand whatever it is, and look at how they constructed their application.

Most of the $15,000 would be spent on the search process, the application to have a lawyer look over and adjust to proper speech is about $1,000 to $2,000.

I would second the cost of $15,000 for a good patent. With the patent that I'm an inventor on we did all the searching and most of the writing ourselves, but it took the better part of three months. In all, it's not something I would recommend. The $15k also only covers a US patent, so expect more if you want foreign filing.