The cost to prepare, file and/or prosecute a patent application varies greatly depending on the exact nature of the invention.  Some patent applications can be prepared for as little as $3600 in my legal fees while other applications may cost over $10,000. The following fees are presented as typical for comparison purposes only, and are based on an hourly rate of $205. 

As discussed in greater detail in my FAQ page, an inventor should consider the amount of time an attorney or agent will be spending drafting your application.  In my opinion, drafting a quality patent application for a mechanical invention of low to medium complexity with a good set of 20 claims (the maximum amount allowed for the basic filing fee) requires at the very least about 19 hours and generally up to 25 hours or more.  And electronic, computer and business method patent applications tend to require even more time.  You should be very wary of attorneys with hourly rates of $250 or more that estimate they can draft your application for less than  $4000.  They might be able to, but quality will suffer.  For your convenience, a typical range of the number of hours required to perform the various listed services is also provided.

Upon request and after reviewing your invention disclosure, I will provide a fixed price quote. Otherwise, I will provide an estimate and will perform all work on an hourly basis.  Please understand that the fixed price quote is based on the disclosure materials provided to me.  If you would like to add additional embodiments or variations to your invention that were not covered in the quote, additional fees may result.  Generally, 67% of my fees portion of the total estimated cost or the fixed price quote will be required before I begin work.  Further, the final 33% plus any United States Patent Office filing fees will be required before the patent application will be filed.  In certain circumstances, such as when an application must be filed in a very short time frame to meet a hard deadline, I may require complete payment upfront.  For a patent search and patentability analysis, I do require the entire fee upfront.

Service	Description	Fee	Est. Hours
Patentability Search	Domestic Patent Search performed by professional searcher at the Patent Office with a patentability analysis giving client a clear idea of the potential scope of protection for his/her invention if patented.  The analysis also includes a cursory infringement analysis to identify whether the client's invention may infringe anyone of the patents identified in the search.  (FLAT RATE).  See my Patent FAQ for an explanation as to why this search is superior to most searches that are offered for less and is equivalent to to searches costing hundreds of dollars more. (Please note that for very complex inventions or software type inventions, the search can be more costly).	$695	NA
Patent Application	Prepare mechanical application of low to medium complexity.   Prepare Computer or Bus. Methods application   Drawings (using skilled patent draftsperson)   Patent Office Filing Fee (individual or small entity)	$3,900- 5,500     $5,600 – 8,500     $100-120 @ sheet     $500	19-28       28-42        NA       NA
Provisional Patent Application	Prepare mechanical application of low to medium complexity     Prepare Computer or Bus. Methods application   Patent Office Filing Fee (individual or small entity)	$2400-3,600       $3,600-7,200       $100	12-18         18-35         NA
Design Application	Prepare design application   Drawings (using skilled patent draftsperson) Design pat. appl. filing fee(individual or small entity)	$1000-1400   $100-120 @ sheet   $215	5-7     NA     NA
Office Action Response and Amendment	Prepare and file Office Action response	$1000 – 3200	5-16
Patent Issue and Publication Fees	Patent Office Issue Fee (individual or small entity)   Patent Office Publication Fee   Legal services related to issuance of patent	$700       $300     $250	NA       NA     1-2

            Please contact me for estimates concerning other intellectual property related legal services including the filing of Trademark applications.