So this is a great question and requires a relatively complex answer. And this is NOT legal advice.

The first answer is that No, in most cases do not patent the invention yet. Often a provisional patent will do just fine, much cheaper and faster to market.

Most inventor patents out of the gate are a waste of time/money.

Additionally, one license negotiation piece is that if you have the Prov Patent Application, (PPA) then you can have the licensee pay for the cost of YOUR patent.

I recently interviewed licensing expert Stephen Key, NYT Bestselling author of One Simple Idea about this topic.

You can listen if you'd like for free here: http://baconwrappedbusiness.com/stephen-key/

Hope this is helpful