There is much work and thought that goes into developing a uniquely new product. Even so, there are inventors who view patent application as a simple formality that can easily be done without much effort. However, this is not the case as filing for a patent involves a number of things among them, hiring a patent lawyer.
As a result, inventors incur patent filing fees charged by patent lawyers for their effort and contribution towards the inventor’s patent registered. Other than these fees, there are also other professional expenses incurred by an inventor when filing for a patent along with patent office fees and maintenance fees.
Patents are mainly meant to guard an innovation from being imitated by other inventors. This is so that the original invention can be as profitable as possible and that it does not receive unfair competition from inferior imitations. Patents don’t come cheaply and as such, when looking forward to introducing a new product in the market, you need to research on the expenses you will incur.
The Main Patent Filing Fees
The patent filing costs incurred are mainly affected by the nature of the new invention. For instance, the fees for filing a patent of a simple product are by far lower than those of a complex product. Majority of the patent filing fees go to paying for the services offered by patent lawyers.
This is because these lawyers do much of the work of filing for a patent. The lawyers are tasked with researching quality information on other existent patents and drafting an effective patent application form. These tasks require to be handled with great expertise, professionalism and are very time consuming.
A patent attorney is also tasked with demonstrating beyond reasonable doubt that the new concept (for which a patent is being filed for) is unique and distinct from that of other products in the market.
The effective patent application drafted by the attorney should be clear, detailed and to the point. This is so that it becomes easy for authorities to prosecute imitators and copycats. This is why, it is highly advisable that you should only hire a well experienced lawyer who understands how patents should be drafted and filed. This includes ensuring that the information in the draft is unique in that there is no replica of that information in any other patent.
Patent filing fees not only cover the fees of attorneys but also meet the costs of related expenses like professional drawings created for the patent application process. When filing for a patent, there is need to accompany the application with a set of illustrations for additional information on the new product being introduced into the market.
Resist Cheap Patent Filing Fees
Due to the high expenses incurred when developing a new product and filing for a patent for the product, some inventors opt to settle for cheap filing fees. This is by hiring inexperienced and unreliable patent attorneys.
In most instances, such a move ends up being a grave mistake as inexperienced attorneys make applications that are invariably weaker than how a good patent should be. Another way that inventors reduce the cost of filing for a patent is by skipping the first step- patent search step.
This is very unprofessional and unethical as you may end up filing for a patent that is identical to the patent of an already existing product in the market.
Always go for the best patent attorney whose patent filing fees are affordable and offers reliable patent filing services.