Patent Registration

Patent registration – how long does the whole process take, and what does a worldwide patent cost, including the USA and China?

Registering a patent can take two to three years, and sometimes longer. The cost of registering a patent in several countries depends on a number of factors:

• – Fees charged by lawyers or patent attorneys for help in preparing the patent (these are not repeated for each country, or increase only for minor adjustments)
• – The cost of any patent search – not repeated for each country (professionals sometimes refer to this more broadly as a Freedom to Operate Report (FTP) or Right to Use Opinion),
• – Official patent registration fees,
• – The cost of an official search – some patent offices carry out a search as part of the registration process and charge official fees for it
• – Translation costs,
• – Renewal fees (if the registration process extends over several years)

Registering a patent in every country in the world can cost as much as $1,000,000. In addition, renewal fees must be paid in subsequent years to keep patents in force, and these can amount to a further $1,000,000.

Strategically, you should weigh the cost of registering a patent in every country against the value the patent has in each of them. That is why most applicants choose only a handful of countries in which to apply. For example, they tend to choose English- and German-speaking countries to save on translation. They then add the largest markets, such as France, China and Japan, and avoid countries where patent rights are very difficult to enforce. Fees can also sometimes be reduced by filing directly with national patent offices rather than through the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

Patent rights are very well enforced in the USA, the EU, Japan, Korea, Canada, Australia and other OECD countries. In Europe, a patent application can be filed through the European Patent Office, which can cut costs by 25-35%. In China, enforcing patent rights is difficult, although the situation is gradually improving. In Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa, patent rights are very hard to enforce.

By way of example, we set out below the cost of preparing and filing a patent in the USA; the fees for patent preparation and searches (other than official searches) are not repeated in other countries, or increase only for minor adjustments. The exception is the European Union, where higher costs should be expected, although these higher costs do secure registration in six or more countries at once.

Preparing and filing a patent in the USA costs from 500€ – 15000€, depending on whether you already have the description, claims, drawings and any translations ready

Official fees are a very broad and complex subject. Firstly, they vary according to the size of the company applying for registration; secondly, the number and variety of fees that may arise during the registration process in individual countries differ widely. Purely as an illustration, we list some of the possible fees for registration in the USA.

Official fees for filing a patent in the USA for micro entities (most small and medium-sized businesses qualify as micro entities) – $75 for three claims and $115 for each additional claim. Further fees may be charged for dependent claims, for the length of the patent application (over one hundred pages, $100) or for official searches ($165).

Renewal fees in the USA (micro entities) – $400 after 3.5 years, $900 after 7.5 years, $1850 after 11 years

Provisional patent registration – approximate length of the whole process and cost of a provisional patent worldwide, including the USA and China

A provisional patent can be filed in only a very limited number of countries, specifically the USA. A provisional patent lasts just one year, after which it must be filed again; this is not costly in itself, but it merely pushes back the priority date, so you run the risk that someone else invents the protected solution in the meantime.

Prices for related services?

Prices for patent-related services vary depending on whether the agreement needs additional provisions, special clauses or more complex mechanisms for calculating royalties or restricting the use of patents. The language of the agreement also affects the price. • licence agreement – 300€ • franchise agreement – 300€ • registration of a licence agreement – 200€ • registration of a franchise agreement – 200€ • design registration – from 500€-3000€, depending on whether you already have the description, claims, drawings and any translations ready Patent registration is a very demanding and complex process. We therefore recommend that you turn to specialists in the field at www.navratlaw.com and save both time and money.