The cost of obtaining a patent depends on a number of factors, such as the complexity of the invention, the amount of work that a patent attorney must perform to prepare and prosecute the patent application, the client’s goals, and the nature of the prior art inventions in the inventors field technology area, among other things.
There are generally three types of fees involved in obtaining a patent, (1) attorney fees, (2) professional drawings fees, and (3) Patent Office fees. Attorneys fees are fees for the work an attorney does to prepare the application, negotiate with the Patent Office, and to secure a patent on your behalf. Professional drawings fees are fees to have professional patent drawing created for your patent application, if needed. Patent Office fees are fees charged by the government, such as filing fees, issue fees, and maintenance fees.
Utility Patent Applications at the Erickson Law Group
The complexity of the invention is a large factor in determining how much work it will take–which corresponds to the cost–to prepare a utility patent application. Below provides a estimate of the costs to prepare a patent application depending on the complexity of the invention.
- Very simple invention – $1,500 – $2,500
- Simple invention – $2,500 – $3,500
- Medium complexity invention – $3,500 – $7,500
- Complex invention – $7,500 and up.
Each invention and client situation is different. Actual cost will vary depending on the circumstances and may not fall within the above ranges. Generally, once we have received details about your invention and understand your goals we can provide a specific cost quote for your application and in some cases we can provide a flat fee for drafting and filing the patent application. See our separate article on ways to reduce the cost of preparing a patent application.
Additional costs will arise after your patent application is filed during the negotiation phase (patent prosecution) when we negotiate with the Patent Office regarding the scope of protection that will be provided should a patent be granted. Patents are not automatically granted after a patent application is filed. The patent office must examine the subject matter of the patent application and determine whether it is worthy of a patent. During this process we must often negotiate (by responding to office actions) with the patent office on the scope of patent protection. Read more about what happens after a patent application is filed here.
The cost of responding to Patent Office Actions (e.g. negotiating with the patent office) depends on the complexity and number of issues raised by the patent examiner in the Office Action and the number of prior art references cited in the Office Action. The costs of studying, preparing, and responding to an office action during patent prosecution generally can range between $750 and $3000. When an office action is received we will evaluate the options for responding and the cost associated with each option and allow you to choose how to proceed. It may be necessary to respond to more than one office action in order to achieve the client’s goal regarding the scope of patent protection. Due to the present backlog at the patent office, it may take 2 years before negotiation begins with the Patent Office. Therefore these prosecution costs will not immediately be incurred at the time of application filing and may be spread out over a number of years, depending on how long it takes for the Patent Office to begin examining the patent application.
If the examiner allows the patent application, then the government charges an issue fee that must be paid in order for the patent to be granted.
After a utility patent is granted, maintenance fees must be paid to the government at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years after the issue date of the patent in order to maintain the patent in force.
Provisional Patent Applications
We recommend that a provisional patent application be drafted in the same manner as a non-provisional application, except that claims need not be included in the provisional application. In many cases, we draft at least one or more claims for a provisional application. Due to the fact that claims are not required and the government charges lower filing fees for a provisional patent application, a quality provisional patent application may costs $700 to $2000 less than a non-provisional patent application on the same invention.
There are many low cost providers that will file any document that you give them as a provisional patent application. We generally will not do that (see why here). You come to a patent attorney for advice and guidance on how to obtain protection over your invention and that almost always involves us re-writing, changing, adding, and deleting material from the initial materials provided by the client in order to best protect the client’s interest. Usually the materials provided by the client provide a starting point for us to draft a patent application that meets our quality standards. We want to be sure that a provisional patent application that we file meets our standards for quality, and –to the extent of the invention known at the time of filing–will provide a firm basis for broad patent protection–if allowed by the prior art–resulting from a later filed non-provisional patent application on the client’s invention.
Find out more about whether to start with a provisional patent application or a non-provisional patent application.
Design Patents
Design Patents are generally less costly to apply for and have granted. The cost of a drafting a design patent application generally is dependent on the number and cost of professional drawings. As design patents rely heavily on what is shown in the drawings, professional patent drawings are important in design patent applications. Design patent applications can generally be prepared and filed for between $1200 and $1700 . Like utility patent applications, additional cost may arise, such as during patent prosecution for responding to office actions and negotiating with the patent office. Also, like utility patent application, the government charges an issue fee that must be paid in order for the design patent to be granted. Generally, the overall cost for to obtain a design patent can range between $2000 and $3000. Maintenance fees are not required for design patents.
Conclusion
We are not the most expensive and we are the not least expensive. However, we do not believe that choosing a patent law firm on the basis of cost alone is the best course.