Flat Rate Patent and Trademark Fees
Form a winning strategy first. Once you know how to win the game of IP, then the cost to file a patent or trademark application will flow from the winning approach.
Email US patent attorney Vic Lin at vlin@icaplaw.com to request a flat rate estimate for your patent or trademark filing. Give us a chance to meet or beat competitive patent or trademark quotes.
Design Patent Costs
Micro Entity (less than $223K annual income and no more than 4 prior patents)
- Design patent initial filing: $1,250 all-inclusive
(includes our $770 flat rate, $204 USPTO fees and illustrator fees) - Rocket Docket request: additional $1,320 (total $2,570 with initial filing)
(includes our $1,000 flat rate and $320 USPTO fees)
Start to finish costs for a micro entity (assuming no rejections): approx. $2,000 without Rocket Docket or approx. $3,320 with Rocket Docket.
A micro entity must meet certain qualifications on gross income and filed no more than 4 prior patent patent filings. Pursuant to our firm policy, we do not file micro entity patent applications for companies.
Small Entity (e.g., individuals and companies with less than 500 employees)
- Design patent initial filing: $1,450 all-inclusive
(includes our $770 flat rate, $408 USPTO fees and illustrator fees) - Rocket Docket request: additional $1,640 (total $3,090 with initial filing)
(includes our $1,000 flat rate and $640 USPTO fees)
Start to finish costs for a small entity (assuming no rejections): approx. $2,350 without Rocket Docket or approx. $4,000 with Rocket Docket.
Small entity status would generally apply to the following entities regardless of income: individuals, academic institutions or companies with fewer than 500 employees.
Utility Patent Costs
Utility Patentability Search Cost
- $1,500 for a novelty search on a single invention
Utility Patent Initial Filing Cost Estimates – Small Entity
- Low complexity: Flat fee starting at $6,600 plus USPTO and vendor fees
- Medium complexity: Flat fee starting at $8,800 plus USPTO and vendor fees
- High complexity: Flat fee starting at $11,000 plus USPTO and vendor fees
Utility Patent Estimates After Initial Filing To Grant (if allowed)
- 1 Office Action and issue fee (i.e., allowance): $3,500+
- 2 Office Actions and issue fee (including Examiner Interview): $6,500+
- 3 Office Actions and issue fee (including Examiner Interview and RCE ): $10,000+
- 4 or more Office Actions and issue fee: $13,000+
In our experience, the majority of utility nonprovisional patent applications will have 2-3 Office Actions. Patent applications involving software or business methods will likely encounter four or more Office Actions.
Utility Patent Estimates from Start to Finish (small entity)
- Low complexity with 1 Office Action: $11,000+
- Medium complexity with 3 Office Actions: $20,000+
- High complexity with 4 or more Office Actions: $24,000+
Provisional Patent Application Cost
- starting at $3,300 (approx. 50% of the cost of drafting a nonprovisional application), plus USPTO and vendor fees
Foreign Utility Patent – International PCT Application
- PCT Initial Filing (not including drafting nonprovisional): $3,700+ all-inclusive, including our $1,250 flat rate and government fees
- National Stage entries: variable depending upon countries
US National Stage Based On PCT Application (small entity)
Here is our initial filing estimate for a US National Stage application that includes the Information Disclosure Statement (IDS):
- $1,454 all-inclusive for initial filing of US national phase application with IDS. Includes our $590 initial filing flat rate, $200 IDS fee and $664 USPTO fee (not including Preliminary Amendment).
US National Stage Based On PCT Application with Multiple Dependent Claims
To save government fees, a Preliminary Amendment is highly recommended when the PCT application contains multiple dependent claims or excess claims. Here is an initial filing estimate for a US National Stage application with a Preliminary Amendment (small entity):
- $1,704 all-inclusive for initial filing of US national phase application with Preliminary Amendment and IDS, including $590 initial filing flat rate, $200 IDS fee, $250 Preliminary Amendment fee and $664 USPTO fee.
Trademark Costs
Trademark Registration Costs from Start to Finish including USPTO fees (assuming no rejections)
- Knockout search of live USPTO trademarks: $650 per class of goods/services
- Use-based application: $950 all-inclusive per class
- Intent-To-Use application including Statement of Use: $1,550 all-inclusive per class (assuming no extensions of time)
Potential Additional Costs After Filing Trademark Application
- 6-month Extension to File Statement of Use: $600 all-inclusive per class, including our $475 flat rate and USPTO fees
- Trademark Office Action response – simple, non-substantive: $350+
- Trademark Office Action response with arguments against refusal: $2,800+
- Evidence of Use (included in our ITU estimate above): $600 all-inclusive per class, including our $500 flat rate and USPTO fees
Trademark Renewals and Post-Registration Maintenance
- Section 8 declaration: $825 all-inclusive per class, including our $600 flat rate and $225 USPTO fee
- Combined Section 8 and 15 declaration (by 6th year anniversary): $1,025 all-inclusive per class, including our $600 flat rate and $425 USPTO fee
- Combined Section 8 and 9 renewal (by 10th year anniversary and after): $1,125 all-inclusive per class, including our $600 flat rate and $525 USPTO fee
TTAB Trademark Opposition and Cancellation Costs
- Plaintiff initial estimates (Opposer, Cancellation Petitioner): starting at $3,300 for a single class of goods/services, including drafting and filing of complaint and mandatory discovery conference (not including discovery)
- Defendant initial estimates (Applicant, Registration Owner): starting at $5,000, including drafting and filing of answer, mandatory discovery conference, and initial settlement discussions (not including counterclaims, motions to dismiss or discovery)
- Ongoing opposition or cancellation costs: $10,000 to $150,000
- Total costs if other side is willing to settle earlier: $10,000 to $25,000
Patent and Trademark Costs Can Vary Widely
Our goal here is to provide a concise summary of costs for registering patents and trademarks. To prevent information overload, these fee estimates do not identify every possible cost that may arise in your patent or trademark application. Instead, we are presenting a simplified cost overview that will hopefully be helpful as you budget for IP protection.
Instead of trying to predict every twist and turn, we have provided initial filing estimates followed by reasonable approximate estimates for the ongoing examination of each type of IP application. These forecasts should provide you with a realistic expectation of ongoing costs after the initial filing. For more detailed IP fee schedules, visit our firm’s flat fee page.
Which patents will cost more?
Here are some helpful tips on patent costs. Design patents have a high average probability of success. So the total costs of a filing a design patent from start to finish are more predictable.
Utility patent costs, on the other hand, can range widely with the only certainty being a 90% chance that a utility nonprovisional patent application will receive at least one rejection.
For patent costs, USPTO government fees will vary depending upon the size of the applicant. The difference between small entity and micro entity costs can be a few hundred dollars per patent filing.
Need a competitive patent or trademark cost estimate?
Email US patent and trademark attorney Vic Lin at vlin@icaplaw.com to see if we can match or beat a cost estimate from another IP firm.
