How much will it cost to apply for a patent or trademark?
Let’s face it. IP is expensive to register. At the top of every potential client’s mind is a question about costs. The cost to file a patent or trademark always comes up in our initial client consultations, and rightly so. You need to gauge the value of our IP registration services, and compare our offerings to those of our competitors. My firm offers flat rate patent and trademark applications.
If you obtain a patent estimate better than our fixed fees below, give us a chance to meet or beat those quotes. Email your patent estimate to vlin@icaplaw.com or call Vic at (949) 223-9623 to request a flat fee estimate for your patent or trademark filing.
Design Patent Costs
Design Patent Cost Estimates – Micro Entity
A micro entity must be beneath certain limits on gross income and past patent filings. If you qualify as a micro entity, here are design patent initial filing costs:
- Design patent initial filing: $1,250 all-inclusive, including our $770 flat rate, USPTO fees and illustrator fees
- Design Rocket Docket request: $1,320 all-inclusive, including our $1,000 flat rate and USPTO fees
- Design patent issue fee: $750 all-inclusive, including our $590 flat rate, USPTO fees and disbursements
Micro entity design patent costs from start to finish, assuming no rejections:
- approx. $2,000 without Rocket Docket
- approx. $3,320 with Rocket Docket
Design Patent Cost Estimates – Small Entity
Small entity status would generally apply to individuals, academic institutions and companies with fewer than 500 employees. For a small entity, here are initial filing design patent costs:
- Design patent initial filing: $1,450 all-inclusive, including our $770 flat rate, USPTO fees and illustrator fees
- Design Rocket Docket request: $1,640 all-inclusive, including our $1,000 flat rate, USPTO fees and vendor fees
- Design patent issue fee: $900 all-inclusive, including our $590 flat rate, USPTO fees and disbursements
Small entity design patent costs from start to finish, assuming no rejections:
- approx. $2,350 without Rocket Docket
- approx. $4,000 with Rocket Docket
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 $8,500 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
- $3,900+ (approx. 50% of the cost of drafting a nonprovisional application)
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
USPTO Trademark Search
- Knockout search of live USPTO trademark filings: $500 per class of goods/services
Trademark Application Estimates (not incl. search)
Here are initial filing estimates for a USPTO trademark application:
- Use-based application: $700 all-inclusive per class, including our $450 flat rate and $250 USPTO fee**
- Intent-To-Use (ITU) application: $700 all-inclusive per class, including our $450 flat rate and $250 USPTO fee**
**Note that a higher USPTO fee of $350 per class may apply if we have to use special descriptions of goods or services, or if you have more than 5 items in one class.
Trademark Application Estimates After Initial Filing
- Evidence of Use (ITU applications only): $600 all-inclusive per class, including our $500 flat rate and USPTO fees
- 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+
Trademark Registration Cost Estimates from Start to Finish
- Use-based application with no rejections: $700 all-inclusive per class
- ITU application with no rejections and no extensions of time: $1,300 all-inclusive per class
Trademark Renewals and Post-Registration Maintenance
- Section 8 declaration: $1,325 all-inclusive per class, including our $900 flat rate and $225 USPTO fee
- Combined Section 8 and 15 declaration (by 6th year anniversary): $1,325 all-inclusive per class, including our $900 flat rate and $425 USPTO fee
- Combined Section 8 and 9 renewal (by 10th year anniversary and after): $1,425 all-inclusive per class, including our $900 flat rate and $525 USPTO fee
TTAB Trademark Opposition and Cancellation Costs
- Initial estimates for plaintiff (Opposer, Cancellation Petitioner): starting at $3,000, not including USPTO fees, to prepare opposition/cancellation complaint, and hold discovery conference (not including preparing or responding to discovery requests)
- Initial estimates for defendant (Applicant, Registration Owner): starting at $5,000, not including USPTO fees, to prepare opposition/cancellation answer, hold discovery conference, send initial disclosures, and initiate settlement discussions (not including preparing or responding to discovery requests)
- 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
As detailed above, my 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?
A few pointers are helpful to keep in mind. Design patents have a high average probability of success so we can predict the total costs of a filing a design patent from start to finish for over 80% of design applications. Also, the cost difference between a small entity and a micro entity are appreciable for design patent applications, so we have included breakdowns.
On the other hand, utility patent applications are wildly unpredictable with the only certainty being that there is a 90% chance that a utility nonprovisional patent application will receive at least one rejection. Also, cost differences between a small entity and a micro entity are not as significant, so we have simply identified cost estimates for a small entity.
For patent costs, USPTO government fees will vary depending upon the size of the applicant. We will try to provide both small entity and micro entity costs if and when they differ.
Need a competitive patent or trademark cost estimate?
Call US patent and trademark attorney Vic Lin at (949) 223-9623 or email vlin@icaplaw.com to see if we can match or beat a cost estimate from another IP firm.
