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Issuance of Utility Patent
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the patent application is finally approved, the Patent Examiner will issue a "Notice
of Allowance and Issue Fee Due." This
Notice indicates that the prosecution phase of the application is finished, and
that the patent will issue soon if certain fees are paid to the Patent and Trademark
Office. In most cases, the cost of the issue fee is $665-$1,330, and represents
the printing and administrative costs charged by the Patent Office for printing
and indexing the new patent, drafting fees and attorneys' fees.
An inventor has exactly three months in which
to pay the issue fee after a Notice of Allowance is issued. If the issue fee
is not paid by the inventor, the Patent Office will close the file on the case,
the patent will not issue, and the inventor may lose any rights he has in the
invention. Accordingly, it is most important that the inventor give his prompt
attention to the Notice of Allowance and Issue Fee Due when it is received. |
