How Much Does a Patent Cost?

A lot of inventors and entrepreneurs want to know the costs of a patent and that is understandable. The biggest factor in the cost of a patent is determined by the patent search. The search tells us how crowded the field of your invention is and how close competitors have come to your idea.

Understanding Your Competition

The more patents that come up in the search and the closer they are to your invention, the more time a patent attorney has to spend on your application in distinguishing your idea from the prior art (i.e. –existing solutions). This brings up the costs of your filing and that is why I typically wait until the search is complete to provide a fixed-fee quote. The following should make these dynamics clearer to you keeping in mind that method, software, heavy electrical, biotechnology, and chemical application fees are typically higher than shown below:

SOME COMPETING IDEAS

You Have Competition

$ 8,000 +

/Legal Fees

A patent application on your idea is simple to moderately complex
Some competing solutions

MODERATELY CROWDED FIELD

Moderately Competitive and Complex Idea

$ 12,000 +

/Legal Fees

A patent application on your idea is moderately complex
Several competing solutions

HEAVILY CROWDED FIELD

Heavily Competitive and Complex Idea

$ 16,000 +

/Legal Fees

A patent application on your idea is highly complex
Moderately crowded field
Multiple competing ideas

* The following should make these dynamics clearer to you keeping in mind that method, software, heavy electrical, biotechnology, and chemical application fees are typically higher.