To estimate utility patent cost, first of all, we need to understand the fundamental of patents. The USPTO classifies patent applications as design, plant, and utility. Since you want to know how much a utility patent cost, we’re going to restrict ourselves to utility patents. Every year, the USPTO is flooded with more than 6 hundred thousand patent applications. Out of all patent applications, most of the applicants submit utility patent applications. Also, looking at the patent filing trend, you can understand that inventors are inclined towards utility patents more. Moreover, utility patents generate more revenue than design and plant patents. As a result, now, companies invest money more in developing new technology or invention than anything else. Moreover, every invention comes under utility patents. Further, in this article, we’ll explain to you the factors that can influence utility patent cost.
Related Article: The Latest Patent Drawings Cost
What are the factors that can affect Utility Patent Cost?
Utility patent cost can be more or less; it solely depends on an invention. The invention having multiple features may increase the cost of drafting the patent application. Moreover, the invention may need several drawings so that the examiner can understand it. Also, if the examiner finds your patent application unclear, he/she won’t accept it. The following are some factors that influence utility patent cost.
Hiring a patent attorney
Hiring the best patent attorney can burn a hole in your pocket. Moreover, nowadays, you may find patent law professionals charging hourly. However, the price may vary between as low as $25 and as high as $200 per hour. You may want to see their client portfolio and success rate before hiring a patent attorney.
Type of Entity
Depending on the type of entity, the USPTO may charge you accordingly. The basic filing fee of a utility patent is $300. However, small entities and micro-entities have to pay $150 and $75 respectively.
Utility Patent Application
A patent application contains various important documents such as patent illustrations, descriptions of the invention, claims, and so on. As a result, it’s quite complex to manage the patent application. Moreover, you need to do a patent search before applying. Therefore, you want to hire a firm that provides services related to patent filing.
However, you may file a patent application by yourself. It may save you some dollars. Nevertheless, we recommend you to hire a professional. Moreover, investing money and time in hiring a patent attorney and patent firm assist you in every step of the patent filing process.
Utility Patent Cost in the United States
The USPTO issues guidelines related to patents trademarks, and copyrights in the U.S. Also, you can see the rules and regulations properly documented on its online portal. Moreover, you may find helpful articles on the patent filing process. In table 1, you may check out the latest utility patent filing cost.
Table 1 Utility Patent Filing Cost in the U.S.
| Fee (USD) | Small (USD) | Micro (USD) | |
| Basic filing fee – Utility (paper filing also requires non-electronic filing fee) | 300.00 | 150 | 75 |
| Basic filing fee – Utility (electronic filing for small entities) | N/A | 75 | N/A |
| Each independent claim over three | 460 | 230 | 115 |
| Each claim over 20 | 100 | 50 | 25 |
| Multiple dependent claims | 820 | 410 | 205 |
| Utility Application Size Fee – for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | 400 | 200 | 100 |
| Submission of sequence listings of 300MB to 800MB | 1000 | 500 | 250 |
| Submission of sequence listings of more than 800MB | 10000 | 5000 | 2500 |
Utility Patent Cost in India
In India, the Indian Patent Office accepts patent applications from inventors. Moreover, IPO issues guidelines for the applicants. In Table 2, you see the fee for various services provided by the Indian Patent Office. However, a fee may vary as it isn’t the same for different entities.
For instance, the fee for filing a patent with the complete specification for an individual is 1600 INR. However, the fee for the same service for small and other entities is 4000 INR and 8000 INR respectively.
Table 2 Utility Patent Filing Cost in India
| For e-filing | For Physical Filing | |||||
| Natural person(s) and/ or Startup | Small entity, alone or with natural person(s) and/ or Startup | Others, alone or with natural person(s) and/ or Startup and/ or small entity | Natural person(s) and/ or Startup | A small entity, alone or with a natural person(s) and/ or Startup | Others, alone or with a natural person(s) and/ or Startup and/ or small entity | |
| On application for a patent accompanied by a provisional or complete specification | 1600 | 4000 | 8000 | 1750 | 4400 | 8800 |
| for each sheet of specification in addition to 30 | 160 | 400 | 800 | 180 | 440 | 880 |
| for each claim in addition to 10 | 320 | 800 | 1600 | 350 | 880 | 1750 |
Related Article: What is the Design Patent Drawings Requirement?
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