 |
Because patents offer regional protection, depending upon the technology you intend to bring to market, you may wish to file in many or only a few countries. Each of the countries that have patent offices will have prescribed Government fees relating to each step of the patent office process, from filing to examination and
beyond. These fees can generally be found by going to the patent and trademark office web site for each country.
For example, see: http://strategis.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/cipo/patents/pt_fee_part1-e.html
In addition to the applicable government fees, there are a number of additional costs involved in the patenting process that are largely dependant upon the type of technology you are looking to patent, how advanced the research and results are, what point you are entering into the process and in some cases the cost
of translations. Although it is not generally recommended, you can search, prepare and prosecute (formally negotiate with each patent office) a patent application yourself if you are a Canadian resident. However, you will likely want a professional to conduct one or more steps in the process. If a professional manages your
file, which is again recommended due to the number of formalities that must be attended to in a timely manner, the file opening costs range from $500 - $1,000 for each file.
A prior art search is generally recommended because the results can determine whether you should invest your money in drafting and filing a patent application or pursuing alternative forms of protection. Although a search can be conducted on your own using computer databases or visiting a patent office, having a professional
design the search strategy and conduct the search can range from $1,000 to $3,500 or more depending upon the technology and the quantity of prior art recovered. Generally it is advisable to search the databases of the key patent offices in addition to searching non-patent literature.
Additionally, having a professional prepare a patentability opinion, which analyses the relevant information identified by the prior art search, depends upon the time required to assess the subject matter. The costs associated with the analysis of these prior art documents varies depending upon the detail of the analysis
performed and on the quantity of the identified prior art. The cost of a typical patentability opinion ranges between $3,000 and $7,000, though it can easily exceed $10,000 for opinions regarding such complex subject matter as chemical molecules. Coming up to speed on the technology by preparing an opinion lowers the cost
of patent application preparation.
The cost of drafting a patent application depends upon the complexity of the technology and the scope of the protection sought. With respect to a complete or full patent application, including a full set of claims, our experience has been that they can cost from $5,000 to $15,000. Provisional applications tend to range
from $10,000 to $15,000.
Moreover, once the examination process begins in a country, time is required approximately every 6 to 8 months in order to negotiate with each patent office (for example patent prosecution). Preparing and coordinating this correspondence with each office tends to range from $5,000 to $10,000 per transaction, depending
upon the country and whether translations are required. We encourage all of our inventors to take part in this process as much as possible in order to minimize the cost of drafting and prosecuting the application.
|
