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Preparation and Filing of a
Utility Patent Application
 he
preparation of a patent application normally costs about $5,357 to $21,722, including
attorneys fees, draftsman's fees, and other incidentals to the preparation of
the application. This charge is in addition to the charge for the patentability
search and opinions rendered thereon. It is customary to ask for an advance retainer
in the full amount of the estimated cost of the application before work on the
patent application is commenced. This retainer covers expenses which must be
advanced to the patent drawing draftsman and toward the legal fees incidental
to the preparation of the application. The remainder,
if any, of the charges for the preparation of the application are normally invoiced
when the application is submitted to the inventor for signature prior to filing
with the Patent and Trademark Office.
The cost of the application varies with the
complexity of the invention and its similarity to previous patents. If your
invention is simple you can probably expect to pay approximately $5,357 or less
for the drafting of the application. A sole inventor or small business pays substantially
lower government filing fees than large corporations, so those applicants who
have developed inventions on their own will pay lower government filing fees
and the cost of their application will be towards the lower end of the price
range.
As a general rule, a patent application is
filed with a description of the invention, drawings which illustrate the invention
and one or more claims that define the legal rights of a patent owner to exclude
others from making, using or selling the invention in the United States for twenty
years from the date of filing with the Patent Office. It is also possible to
file a provisional application without claims to obtain an earlier filing date.
However, provisional applications are not placed upon the files for examination
until all required parts, including claims, are filed with the Patent Office.
A provisional application, if not completed within twelve months, will be considered
abandoned. |
