Taking into account the specifics of the inventor’s concept, the preparation of a patent application can cost anywhere in the range of $5,580 – $20,880, which would include attorney’s fees, draftsman’s fees, and other incidentals for the preparation of the application. The preparation of the patent application is a separate step forward from the patentability search and opinions rendered thereon, and thus the estimated cost will not include the cost of the previous search. Like the patentability search, our firm will provide a definite cost, within a range, for completing the project of preparing and filing the patent application, and will move forward with the project once the initial payment is received.
The cost of the application varies with the complexity of the invention and its similarities to available technology. For example, if the invention is relatively simple, the inventor may expect to pay under $6,000 for the drafting of the application. If the inventor is a small entity (typically, a sole inventor or small business), the federal filing fees will also be substantially lower than large corporations. Those applicants who have developed inventions on their own will accordingly pay lower filing fees than may be expected otherwise.
As a general rule, a patent application is filed with a description of the invention, drawings the illustrate the concept, and one or more claims that define the legal rights of the patent owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention in the United States for twenty years from the date of filing in the Patent Office. It is also possible to file a provisional application, which has less substantive filing requirements, to obtain an earlier filing date. However, provisional applications are not placed upon the files for examination before an attorney of the Patent Office until it is converted to a non-provisional filing in the Patent Office. A provisional application, if not supplemented with a non-provisional application within twelve months, will be considered abandoned. It is therefore generally advisable to move forward with a non-provisional patent application to ensure full protection of the invention. Our firm works exclusively on non-provisional applications, but would be pleased to discuss the particulars of any inventor’s situation, including the possibility of converting a provisional application to a non-provisional application, upon request.