Cost – Patent

A patent application is an investment to legally protect your idea.  Costs for filing a patent application, obtaining and maintaining a patent vary and can be significant, depending on the effort and technology involved.  In addition to the professional legal fees (attorneys of our firm and/or other attorneys with whom, in consultation with you, we cooperate), additional fees may be incurred in the course of processing your patent matters.   Such additional fees may have to be paid, for example, to the relevant patent offices and/or to other third parties (e.g., translations).  We consider it our duty and obligation to provide you, in advance, and as good as possible, an idea of the costs to be expected.

Here you will find the official fees of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The official fees are straightforward and well accounted for but represent only a small portion of the total cost.  Many of the costs that must be paid to the USPTO are fifty percent reduced for a “small entity” (e.g., companies with fewer than 500 employees, not-for-profit companies, universities, and research institutes that have not licensed the invention to another company).  These fees are then halved again for “micro-entities” (e.g., individual applicants).  The latter is subject to certain restrictions and proof, for example, a certain income limit may not be exceeded.

Here are the official fees under a PCT application.

Here you will find the PCT fees in U.S. dollars.

Here you will find the fees in EURO to be paid when filing an international application with the European Patent Office.

Cost – Litigation

Costs of maneuvering through litigation can be significant and are even less accurately predictable than costs incurred to obtain a patent.  Patent litigation involves a team of attorneys and technical experts.  In addition to professional legal fees (attorneys from our firm and/or other attorneys with whom we work upon consultation with you), litigation will involve fees that must be paid to, for example, the appropriate courts and/or other third parties (e.g., experts, translations, discovery, etc.).  Although costs incurred in litigation are not readily predictable and often depend on factors beyond our control (e.g., how litigious is the opposing party? How many motions will be filed and must be responded to? What is the extent of discovery?), we consider it our duty and obligation to give you as good an idea as possible in advance of the costs to be expected.

Our Cost Structure

RUPPERT U.S. IP GmbH offers its clients various cost and payment models adapted to their individual circumstances.  Those include compensation for our services on an hourly basis, a monthly payment agreed with you for certain services to be provided, sometimes, deferred payments, as well as other options and hybrid models.  Our cost structure provides our clients with the greatest possible flexibility.