Below are some steps that you can take to help reduce the cost for us to prepare a patent application on your behalf. These steps are not required as we can draft an application based on your requirements and information. However, by following the guidelines below you can assist in reducing patent preparation costs. See our separate article for general information about how much a patent costs.
Provide a Detailed Description of the Idea at the Start
It is important that you provide the most detailed written description of your idea. The written description should include drawings. The drawings can be hand-sketched. The written description should make reference to individual parts of the invention shown in the drawings. The drawings should have parts labeled by number. The written description should make reference to the parts by name and number.
Generally, short summaries or brochures do not provide sufficient details about the invention and how it works. If we have to request many details about the invention from the inventor, this adds time to the process and drives up the cost of preparing an application. Another scenario where we generally need to put forth a lot of effort to obtain details about the invention is when the inventor only orally describes the invention and we need to draft the application from the oral description. When the inventors presents a clear and detailed description of the details of invention, its various functions, and the benefits of the invention as compared other inventions in the field, we are able to most efficiently prepare an patent application on the invention.
Start with a Complete Invention
When an inventor keeps inventing during the time when we are drafting the application, the cost of preparing the application can rise substantially. Description of the new features must be added. Sometimes various parts of the patent application need to be rearranged to account for the new developments. Often times drawings will have to be changed or new drawings created to include the new details not provided in the beginning. Adding details after the application drafting is underway generally takes more time, and generates more costs, than if the details had been provided at the beginning.
Provide a First Draft
We can often provide an example patent application that is in the field of the inventor’s invention. A template can also be provided for the inventor to start from to assist in developing a detailed description of the invention. If the inventor drafts a first draft based on a template provided, cost can be reduced. We can then take this first draft as a base and draft a patent application that meets our standards having all the appropriate language and detail.
The cost to prepare a patent application depends on many factors, however the above guidelines can help reduce the cost for us to prepare a patent application for you.