A provisional application

[andrew.pinter]

Hey,

I currently live in Utah and am starting a company. After talking to a few entrepreneurs they mentioned that I should check to see if anyone has any patent similar to what I am doing in the software industry and then file for a patent. My question is how much would it cost (rough estimate) to have a lawyer do the research to see if there are other patents similar to my idea?
Would this basically be Filing a provisional application?

Thanks
Andrew

 

[quincy]

Hey,

I currently live in Utah and am starting a company. After talking to a few entrepreneurs they mentioned that I should check to see if anyone has any patent similar to what I am doing in the software industry and then file for a patent. My question is how much would it cost (rough estimate) to have a lawyer do the research to see if there are other patents similar to my idea?
Would this basically be Filing a provisional application?

Thanks
Andrew

It is impossible to give you even a rough estimate as to the cost of a patent attorney, although patent attorneys are among the highest paid of all attorneys. You can call some and see what they charge.

A patent search, however, does not need to be conducted by an attorney. All patents issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office (since 1972) are available online. For a free online search of the Patent Office's database, you can go to http://www.uspto.gov

That said, if you have the funds available, I recommend you contact a licensed patent attorney in your area for a meeting to discuss the patentability of your software process or device.

In order to qualify for a patent, your software must be novel in some way (with at least one element that is new) and nonobvious (a development that surprises). You should be prepared to discuss with the attorney how your software development is different from all others that have come before.

You can file a Provisional Patent Application if you are prepared to sufficiently disclose the workings of your invention and will be prepared to file for a regular patent within one year of the PPA filing.

Good luck.

 

[andrew.pinter]

Thanks that helps a lot

 

[quincy]

Thanks that helps a lot

You're welcome, andrew.pinter. Thanks for the thanks.

 

[single317dad]

While quincy has understandably declined to speculate on the probable cost of a patent attorney's assistance in your search and application (guessing is a dangerous game sometimes), I'm willing to go out on a limb and give you some information from my own experience. For the initial search and filing, you should be prepared to pay a minimum of $5,000-7,500 after looking around for the lowest price and getting several quotes of $10,000-15,000. The more similar works that are found and need to be researched and referenced, the more extensive the abstract, the more that cost goes up. Expect a total cost of $10,000-30,000 depending on the time the firm has to dedicate to the task, and of course additional fees for exceptional circumstances.

In my own experience, I have a patent from 1994 that cost my partner and me about $8,000 (a household gadget), one from 2005 that cost my company about $23,000 (a complex machine that was similar in some ways to several other machines), and have decided against pursuing my newest idea as the quoted costs of fabrication and IP protection are likely more than I could recover (as was the case with the first two ).

Reading other patents for inventions similar to yours at the link quincy provided will give you a good idea what information needs to go into your own application.

 

[FlyingRon]

Single dad's figures sound about right. I was thinking that the legal work on the research and the provisional probably ran us around $10K but I didn't see the bill from the attorney.

 

[quincy]

While quincy has understandably declined to speculate on the probable cost of a patent attorney's assistance in your search and application (guessing is a dangerous game sometimes), I'm willing to go out on a limb and give you some information from my own experience. For the initial search and filing, you should be prepared to pay a minimum of $5,000-7,500 after looking around for the lowest price and getting several quotes of $10,000-15,000. The more similar works that are found and need to be researched and referenced, the more extensive the abstract, the more that cost goes up. Expect a total cost of $10,000-30,000 depending on the time the firm has to dedicate to the task, and of course additional fees for exceptional circumstances.

In my own experience, I have a patent from 1994 that cost my partner and me about $8,000 (a household gadget), one from 2005 that cost my company about $23,000 (a complex machine that was similar in some ways to several other machines), and have decided against pursuing my newest idea as the quoted costs of fabrication and IP protection are likely more than I could recover (as was the case with the first two ).

Reading other patents for inventions similar to yours at the link quincy provided will give you a good idea what information needs to go into your own application.

My hesitation comes more from the fact that there are so many variables that every inventor's experience and costs will be different - although your experience with your patents provide nice examples of how costly getting an idea from your head to the issuance of a patent can be.

There are ways to save costs and Andrew has started off nicely by living in Utah, a state where the fees for patent searches and patent attorneys are typically below the national average. Another way to save costs is to hire a patent agent, instead of a patent attorney, to do the legwork.

A patent attorney's costs will not only vary depending on the attorney's geographic region (for example, you can generally expect to pay at least $300 more per hour for an attorney located in San Francisco, New York City or Boston) but also on the attorney's experience. Costs also depend on how involved the invention is, whether it is a patent attorney who conducts the patent search, whether the search is a national or an international one, how detailed the attorney's assessment of the patent is (one page, ten pages), how many pages must be submitted with the patent application ...

It is safe to say that an inventor needs to believe in his invention enough to spend what it takes to get a patent.

 

[andrew.pinter]

My hesitation comes more from the fact that there are so many variables that every inventor's experience and costs will be different - although your experience with your patents provide nice examples of how costly getting an idea from your head to the issuance of a patent can be.

There are ways to save costs and Andrew has started off nicely by living in Utah, a state where the fees for patent searches and patent attorneys are typically below the national average. Another way to save costs is to hire a patent agent, instead of a patent attorney, to do the legwork.

A patent attorney's costs will not only vary depending on the attorney's geographic region (for example, you can generally expect to pay at least $300 more per hour for an attorney located in San Francisco, New York City or Boston) but also on the attorney's experience. Costs also depend on how involved the invention is, whether it is a patent attorney who conducts the patent search, whether the search is a national or an international one, how detailed the attorney's assessment of the patent is (one page, ten pages), how many pages must be submitted with the patent application ...

It is safe to say that an inventor needs to believe in his invention enough to spend what it takes to get a patent.

Once again thanks! those are about the prices I have seen when asking different attorneys and other people that have had research done for them. I just want to make sure I do it right to start out so it doesn't come back to haunt me. I believe in my innovation, as quincy said you need to believe if you are going to spend that much on a patent. I wish you and everyone else the best of luck in their own work.

Thanks
Andrew

 

[quincy]

Once again thanks! those are about the prices I have seen when asking different attorneys and other people that have had research done for them. I just want to make sure I do it right to start out so it doesn't come back to haunt me. I believe in my innovation, as quincy said you need to believe if you are going to spend that much on a patent. I wish you and everyone else the best of luck in their own work.

Thanks
Andrew

We appreciate the thanks, Andrew.

If you have the opportunity to post with updates, we will be interested in hearing how all goes for you.

Good luck.