Turning Ideas Into
Patents
____Utility Costs___
Utility Application - Estimated Time Line and Costs
     Utility patents are the most common type of patent. The total cost to obtain this type of patent depends on
many factors including, the type of utility application (US, PCT, Provisional), any similar inventions, the level of
development of the invention, face-to-face meetings, the number and extent of changes to the application, and
the tenacity of the patent office.
20. 4 Year Maintenance fee Date of Issue +3.5Years
21. 8 Year Maintenance fee Date of Issue +7.5Years
22. 12 Year Maintenance fee Date of Issue +11.5Years
23. Patent rights end Filing Date +20 Years
Description of Events                                                            Time Est.    Cost
1. Meeting with client, product disclosed. Retainer Paid
2. Application written and sent to client with billing
3. Application returned with signatures and payment
4. Application mailed to PTO
5. Application "Pending" copies sent to client
6. Filing receipt received and sent to client
7. Information disclosure statement sent to PTO and client
8. Publicaiton notice received at 18 months copy to client
9. First office action from PTO
10. First office action copies sent to client
11. Reply to first office action sent to PTO
12. Reply to first office action sent to client with billing
13. Final office action from PTO
14. Final office action copies sent to client
15. Reply to final office action sent to PTO and client with bill
16. Patent Approved with Notice of Allowance
17. Copies to client with bill for issue & publication fee
18. Payment is client authorization, Issue fee payment to PTO
19. Patent issues and sent to client
                                                                                       Budgetary Cost    $8,000
Day 0        $2,500
Day 45      $2,500
Day 50
Day 55
Day 60
Month 5
Month 6
Month 20
Month 21
Month 22
Month 23
Month 24   $1,200
Month 27
Month 28
Month 29     $600
Month 32
Month 33
Month 34   $1,200
Month 37
     The schedule below provides an estimate of the entire process from initial consultation until the patent
expires, 20 years after the date the Patent Office (PTO) receives the file.
     To place a typical US Utility application on file, the cost will between $4,000 to $5,000 including all
drawings and filing fees and takes about 60 days to have the application “Patent Pending”. Complicated cases
can take longer and cost more. Prosecution of a typical utility patent application involves additional charges. The
additional charges involve submitting an information disclosure statement, replying to the patent office to argue
your patent, and issue fees. These costs are an average of an additional $3,000 and it generally takes two to
three years, but can over six years for some applications, until the patent issues (Patented). These estimates
assume you are a small entity (less than 500 employees) and the application does not require continuation or
divisional applications. When the patent issues, maintenance fees will be required to keep the patent active. The
maintenance fees are due at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years. The fees currently run between $450 and $3,800
depending upon small or large entity and when the fee is paid.    To summarize you should budget $8,000 for a
typical US utility application and expect the process will take 3 to 6 years.
$450
$1,150
$1,900