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[TataBox]

Does anyone know the cost involved in filing a patent application all the way to the grant?

[TataBox]

Everything done by the inventor.......

[JimIvey]

Basic filing, search, examination:  $500 ($75 off for electronic filing).
Assume no more than 20 claims, at most 3 of which are independent: $0 in extra claim fees.
Assume all responses are filed on time and no appeal, RCE, divisional, continuation,etc. are needed: $0.
Issue fee: $700

So, absolute minimum is $1200 over about 2-3 years or longer -- $500 due up front and the rest due in a couple years.

If you want to keep your patent for the full term, you have to pay maintenance fees:
3.5-4yrs: $450
7.5-8yrs: $1150
11.5-12yrs: $1900
That's $3500 more.

Of course, fees will be raised between now and the time you pay them (except for perhaps the $500 up front), so you should budget for more.  

All the fee information is available here: http://www.uspto.gov/main/howtofees.htm

Regards.

[TataBox]

thanks Jim!

[Steve_Nielsen]

To obtain the lowest possible cost, one must opt out of publishing the patent application. Unless you mark the box. “no publication” your patent application will be published 18 months after submission. When your patent issues, you will then be charged a $300 dollar publication fee in addition to the $700 dollar issue fee.

Good luck with your invention.

Steven A. Nielsen
Larkspur, Marin County, California USA
USPTO # 54,699

www.NielsenPatents.com

[Isaac]

I just noticed that the cost of scalpels, sutures and a copy of Gray's Anatomy is surprisingly low.

[Anon]

I just noticed that the cost of scalpels, sutures and a copy of Gray's Anatomy is surprisingly low.

Priceless.

[Anon]

To obtain the lowest possible cost, one must opt out of publishing the patent application. Unless you mark the box. “no publication” your patent application will be published 18 months after submission.

Dear Mr. Reg. No. 54,699,

Sometimes sarcasm is lost on me.   Is that the case here?  Or are do you truly not know the implications of not "mark[ing] the box" to which you refer?  If you know, perhaps you should share this information with the original poster.  And if you don't know, maybe you should be a little more careful with the information you dispense.

Regards

[Isaac]

I'm pretty sure he knows the consequences.   I don't think any of the posts (at least the ones responsive to the OP's question) were intended to recommend a course of action but rather to answer the question being posed.

[Wiscagent]

Following up on the "no publication" option:  

Is the $300 fee [37 CFR 1.18(d) ] for publication of the application or publication of the granted patent?

It's my understanding that if you request early publication of the application, i.e. before 18 months, then the $300 fee is required prior to publication of the application; and is not additionally required if and when the patent is allowed.

I thought however that regardless of whether or not the application ever publishes, the $300 fee was required before the patent is granted.  Otherwise, wouldn’t the USPTO require the $300 before the application is published; and given the timing, if the patent never is allowed, then the applicant never pays the fee.

By the way, I didn't detect any sarcasim in Mr. Nilsen's note.  

Mr. Clark's on the other hand ... Hey - what is your rock bottom price for an appendectomy?  I can supply iodine and rubber gloves.


Richard Tanzer

[Isaac]

Real cheap now that I see I can work from an on-line version of Gray's.
BYOA.

[TataBox]

I am not so sure I understood the publication comment.   An application is published 18 months after filing.  You can opt out from publication before 18 months if you declare that you are not filing abroad.   What did I miss?

[Wiscagent]

Steve Nielsen wrote that if you opt out of publishing your patent application you can save the $300 publication fee.  I am confused on whether the $300 fee is for publication of the application or publication of the granted patent.

 - If you request that the application be published prior to 18 months, you have to pay the $300 up front; that suggests that the fee is for publishing the application.  

 - On the other hand, if the application publishes after the usual 18 months, and then sometime later you abandon the application,  :oyou avoid paying the $300 even though the application already published.  This suggests that the $300 is for publishing the granted patent, in which case opting out of having the application published saves nothing.


Perplexed in Wisconsin

[Mike]

Hi,

With regards to when the publication fee must be paid, I am not certain.

I do however remember that my patent was granted before the 18 months and for this reason the USPTO reimbursed to me the $300.00 publication fee.

Regards,       Mike

[Mike]

Hi Again,

It is my understanding that the "publication fee" is for publishing your patent application. The USPTO has an established time frame (18 months) after submittal by which they are required to have published your application.  

I have been advised that it is unusual that a patent is granted before the application is published. ... but it did occur in my case.

Mike