What if we adjust our initial filing patent cost to match your budget?
Nearly every patent firm sets their own attorney’s fees and service rates. Some bill hourly. Our firm bills flat rates. Though most clients appear to prefer flat rates, even fixed fee patent cost estimates may exceed the budget of many startups and small businesses who might otherwise benefit from our services. So we asked ourselves the following question: What can we do to make utility patents more affordable?
What would make patents more accessible to potential clients?
Many IP law firms appear to be targeting small businesses. Some law firms are more focused on IP litigation while others, such as our firm, are heavily focused on filing patents and trademarks. Despite their marketing efforts, the utility patent cost estimates of many IP firms may be out of reach for many clients.
So why are (utility) patents so expensive? The answer is straightforward, but not simple. Utility patents are complicated to prepare and prosecute. Drafting a utility patent application involves two main tasks:
- Describing the invention; and
- Claiming the invention.
Depending upon the complexity of the invention and the number of variations or embodiments, describing may sometimes take more time and effort than claiming.
How to save patent costs by describing your invention
As a result, small businesses turn to filing provisional patent applications which present a high risk of being irreversibly deficient. What many novice patent filers may not understand is that the level of protection in a provisional application is limited to the disclosure it contains. The less you disclose, the less protection you get. And, you ultimately get zero protection if you fail to convert the provisional to a nonprovisional within the 1-year deadline. A provisional, therefore, still requires a significant amount of time and effort to provide potentially valuable protection.
It is certainly possible for an inventor to draft a well-written provisional application on their own. Doing so would tackle the describing task discussed above. A well drafted provisional application may lead to cost savings in that a patent attorney can focus more time and effort on claiming.
So one way to reduce patent cost is to write a very detailed description of your invention that would require minimal revisions.
Name your patent price: Tell us your desired cost for filing a patent application
If you would like our firm to explore a reduced cost for filing your patent application, please contact US patent attorney Vic Lin by email at vlin@icaplaw.com or call (949) 223-9623 to discuss your desired flat fee for filing a US nonprovisional patent application.
Vic Lin
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