Estimate patent application costs including USPTO fees, attorney drafting, patent search, prosecution, and maintenance for utility and design patents.
The Patent Filing Cost Calculator estimates the cost of preparing, filing, prosecuting, and maintaining a patent application through the USPTO. It combines official fees, attorney drafting, prior-art search costs, office-action work, and long-term maintenance fees into one budget worksheet.
Utility and design patents can differ substantially in both complexity and cost. The page is designed to help inventors, startups, and IP teams compare those lifecycle costs before committing to a filing strategy.
It is best used as a budgeting tool. Actual prosecution costs can still change meaningfully based on technology, claim scope, examiner feedback, and whether international filings are added later.
A patent budget is usually more useful when it includes the whole lifecycle instead of just the initial filing fee. This page helps compare first-year filing spend against later prosecution and maintenance costs so you can decide which inventions are worth protecting and how to stage the spend.
Filing Cost = USPTO Fees + Attorney Drafting + Prior Art Search Prosecution = Office Action Responses × Response Cost Maintenance = 3.5-yr + 7.5-yr + 11.5-yr fees Total = Filing + Prosecution + Issue Fee + Maintenance
Result: $27,400 total 20-year cost
Filing: $1,600 + $8,000 + $2,000 = $11,600. Prosecution: $3,000. Issue: $1,200. Maintenance (3.5yr $1,600 + 7.5yr $3,600 + 11.5yr $6,400): $11,600. Total: $27,400.
Utility patents protect functional inventions for 20 years from filing. Design patents protect ornamental appearance. Plant patents protect asexually reproduced plant varieties. Most businesses need utility patents for core technology.
Claim small entity or micro entity status for fee reductions. File provisionals strategically. Focus claims on commercially valuable aspects. Use continuation applications judiciously. Consider international filing priorities carefully.
Not every invention merits patent protection. Evaluate each invention’s commercial value, enforceability, and competitive landscape. A focused portfolio of strong patents often provides better protection than a large portfolio of weak ones.
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This worksheet adds the user-entered USPTO fees, attorney drafting costs, prior-art search costs, office-action response costs, issue fees, and maintenance fees into one lifecycle budget. It is meant to compare patent scenarios and stage the spend, not to predict whether an application will be allowed or how many office actions a specific case will take.
The page is intentionally conservative. It does not decide claim scope, patentability, or examination outcomes. Those are legal and technical questions that still depend on the invention, prior art, and USPTO review.
A utility patent typically costs $10,000–$20,000 for filing and prosecution, plus maintenance fees over the patent term. Simple inventions are at the low end, while complex software or biotech patents can exceed that range.
Design patents are simpler and cheaper, typically costing less than utility patents. USPTO fees are lower, and design patents do not have maintenance fees.
Utility patents require maintenance fees at 3.5 years, 7.5 years, and 11.5 years after issue. Failure to pay can cause the patent to expire. Design patents have no maintenance fees.
Average prosecution takes 2–3 years from filing to issuance, though timelines vary by technology and examiner workload. This calculator is about cost planning, not timing predictions.
Provisional applications are useful when you want an early priority date at lower cost. They buy time to refine the invention or assess market viability before committing to full filing costs.
Pro se filing is possible but not recommended. Patent claims require precise legal language, and inadequate drafting can leave the invention underprotected.