The following is a basic description of the patent process and the various expenses one can expect to incur in obtaining an issued patent. A patent application is not a form, but instead is perhaps the most complex legal document to ever be prepared by an attorney. Link to the uspto.gov patent database search engines and retrieve an issued patent. The issued patent is an original patent application in a typeset form (less simple transmittal documents that are not published with the issued patent). An issued patent may also have drawing, text and claim amendments that have been incorporated in the original application as a result of prosecution requirements.

We value our clients and want them to be fully informed about the patent preparation and prosecution process. We do not want our clients to be surprised about the length of time required in obtaining an issued patent, nor do we want our client be be surprised about the costs and fees that may be incurred. It is for these reasons, the following summary is provided for the benefit of our clients and those that are considering engaging our firm for providing legal services. We hope you find this information helpful.

The costs and fees associated with obtaining a patent are summarized below:

Obtaining a patent is a relatively expensive process. To start, because of the large expenses in filing and prosecuting a patent application before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, it is a very wise thing to have a preliminary patentability search performed. The costs and attorney fees for having a searched performed, reviewed and opining whether or not it appears that the item of manufacture, process or machine is patentable is between about $400.00 and $1000.00 depending on the complexity of the search.

If a favorable patentability opinion is provided, a patent application needs to be prepared and filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A typical patent application include 2-3 patent drawings which cost about $150.00 per sheet to prepare for a total of $300-450. Next the application must be prepared by an experienced patent attorney. Fees associated with simple mechanical cases are typically between $1200 and $2500 depending upon the complexity of the invention. Cases involving electrical circuits, computers and software systems are much more expensive, ranging between about $3000 and $5000. Once the application is prepared it must be filed. The USPTO charges a filing fee of $355.00 and it is best to send the application via Express Mail to make certain a proper filing receipt is issued. The Express Mailing is about $15.00.

From the foregoing, one can easily expend between about $2000 to $6500 for searching and filing a patent application.

Once the application is filed, it enters a prosecution phase. In the prosecution phase, each Official Action issued by the USPTO generally results in the need for an Amendment to the application to be prepared. Such amendments typically cost in attorney fees between about $800 and $2000 depending upon the complexity of the required amendment. During prosecution, it is possible that 2-3 amendments maybe necessary. Accordingly, one can spend an additional $1600 to $6000 for prosecuting the application.

If the prosecution phase is successful and the USPTO issue a Notice of Allowance, formal patent drawings must be prepared from the originally prepared informal drawings. This costs an additional $125-150 per sheet. In addition, an Issue Fee must be paid to the USPTO of about $685.00. Finally, additional attorney time is required to finalize all the documents and to submit the Issue Fee to the USPTO. This costs typically an additional $200-300. In short then, the issue process can cost between an additional $1135 to $1335. If extra copies of the patent are requested, ten copies can be obtained for an additional $40.00.

After the patent has issued the USPTO requires that maintenance fees be paid at periodic periods. The maintenance fees increase over the life of the patent which is 20 years from the date the application was filed.

Based on the uncertainties of the searching process, and the number of amendments and drawings that may be required, I typically tell my clients to expect to spend at least $5000 in obtaining a United States Patent. I also tell my clients, if they want to protect an invention outside of the United States, that they can expect to expend an additional $5000 to $10000 per each foreign country in which protection is sought.

In short then, as stated in the beginning of this summary, obtaining a patent is a relatively expensive process. Moreover, it is time consuming and generally takes between about 24 to 36 months. A time summary: a search is typically 3-6 weeks, application preparation is typically 4-6 weeks, prosecution is typically 18-24 months, and the issue process is typically 3-9 months depending upon the responsiveness of the United States Patent and Trademark Office..

We would also encourage you to view the animated slide show we have prepared since it provides a short simplified overview of the complexities involved in a patenting process.

If we can be of further service, please do not hesitate to contact us.