Re: Re: Breakdown:

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Breakdown:

Comments:
: : : 1. Could anyone tell me if there's anyplace I can get a breakdown of fees and steps needed for a patent? : : You can get some info here http://www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm : : I'll give you a rough estimate here. If YOU were to draft and file the application yourself (typically, not a wise thing to do) as what is called a "small entity" inventor, and did not over do it on claims: : : 1. For a provisional application - $80 filing fee. : : 2. For a non-provisional application - $370 basic filing fee. : : Add in about 2-300$ for lawyer time to prepare legal docs for you, if needed. : : To formalize drawings according to Patent Office requirements, figure $50 per page for a draftsman. : : Thus figure a bare minumum just to get it filed would be about 700-800$. : : 1-1.5 years after filing, the prosecution phase starts. Patent examiners can be helpful during the prosecution phase, but I would not rely on them to help you get your patent to allowance with the broadest claims. : : After you receive a Notice of Allowance, you will then be told to pay the issue fee of $640. : : So in a hypothetical world, you might get patent for 700-800 + $640 = $1340 to 1440. : : But if I were to believe that I was going to really use the patent to make money, you need to seriously consider an agent or attorney. In such a scenario, add $10,000 for agent or attorney time to do the job through issue. : : : 2. I'm curious why people can't do the research themselves. Perhaps it would be a lot easier these days with the amount of information that's put online / kept on computer? : : First, you need to know that there is NO requirement by the Patent Office to do search. However, a search is conducted to see if someone else has already applied for or patented "your" idea. You can pay to have the search done, with costs ranging on the complexity of the search from $500 to $3000. YOU can do some searches from the Patent Office website, the WIPO website, and other sites to get a handle on what prior art mihgt be out there. But remember, htere is never a guarantee that some reference or publication will not turn up to railroad your whole idea. : : : 3. I've created a few things in my time but I know I've never had the money to get a patent. If a patent is too expensive to aquire, then what are the success rates of pitching your idea to a company that can make it? Ever heard of companies taking the ideas and calling them their own? : : No company can take an idea not their own and call it their own, unless they obtain legal rights in it from the actual inventor(s), through assignments, license agreements, etc. You can find investors to help you financially through the patenting process and marketing process, but they will want a stake in the patent to protect their financial stake. : : : Personally, I just want to see my ideas out there. Sure I'd like to get all the credit for the initial ideas, but I'll never have the resources needed to create these things. : : If you are the inventor, you will have your name on the patent, but you may not own the rights in the patent if you signed over legal rights in the patent to someone else. This is the typical case for an employee of a large company. The employee gets his or her name on the patent, but the company owns all the rights in the patent by making a condition of employment the assigning of the pantent rights to the company. : : Good luck! : Dear Eric, : The real problem is not getting a patent, it is getting a patent with claims that will give the protection that the invention warrants. : If the claims are not broad enough an expensive patent can be a huge waste of money. That is why we have come up with the Reality Check®, to save time money and worry. : M. Arthur Auslander : Auslander & Thomas-Intellectual Property Law Since 1909 : 505 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018 : 212-594-6900, fax 212-244-0028, aus@auslander.com : ELAINE's Workshop® : E arly L egal A dvice I s N ot E xpensive™ : Reality Check® :

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