You can start with European patent Office

http://www.epo.org/applying.html

Hi, I was working for an inventor in El Salvador, and I helped him to patent his invention. We begun from zero asking and reviewing articles about how to write, draw and follow the process of patenting. We hired a lawer that was a former examiner of the USPO and, at last, we could patent a ecological stove.

This article may help you.

http://www.inventorbasics.com/index.htm

Regards,

I would recommend to go with your legal adviser rather than applying on your own. Because, you can do all kind of novelty/infringement searches. But, there's the important phase in patent called "claim". It's your claim on the your invention. It should be written with some specific scripting method. If you want to continue on your own.. Kindly do the prior art search in the paid databases ( as it contains all countries patents) to avoid infringement. Try not to disclose your idea to public. Because, If your idea is disclosed to public in any means for more than a year, it cannot be patented.

I would refer http://www.thomsoninnovation.com for doing your novelty search.

(1) Do not disclose the invention to others except after they have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). You can make up such a document yourself. There are templates for these on the web. Not 'disclosing' your invention means: not publishing it; not showing it to outside people before they sign the NDA; not showing it at a trade fair or expo; not writing about it online, etc.

(2) File a provisional patent. This varies from country to country. The costs are often low. and you can do it yourself in many countries. Of course a patent attorney is better, but costs can be a barrier. The provisional patent gives you a limited period of time in which to file a full patent.

(3) Once you have a provisional patent you can disclose the idea to other people more easily, which you may need to do if you need information about specialised manufacturing processes etc. This will also give you the time to work out whether your idea really does have the merit to take further.

(4) File a full patent (before the provisional one runs out). Generally you will need a patent attorney here (though this is not always strictly necessary). You will also have to decide which countries to file in. This depends on where you think the best market lies for your product. This is where the biggest IP cost arises.

(5) Develop your invention through to a product. This takes a lot of time and capital. We call it the valley of death because of the adverse cashflow conditions. You will need money from somewhere, typically government grants or investors. In return you will need to give them some of the commercial rights. Otherwise sell your invention outright.

Good luck!