A SAMPLE PRICE QUOTATION FOR PATENT SERVICES BY THE OFFICE OF ROBERT PLATT BELL NOTE: This is a SAMPLE quote only, for a simple mechanical or mechanical/electrical invention. For more complicated inventions, see our other Price Quotes. This is not an actual Price Quote, but a sample only. To give you an actual Price quote (which may be higher or lower) we would need to see your Invention Disclosure. Note also that prices and PTO fees are raised regularly – more often than I update my website. This page updated March 25, 2006
PART I: Provisional Application
The following is a Price Quotation for a SIMPLE invention, characterized by 5-10 sheets of drawings, 20 or less pages of Specification, typically for a mechanical or mechanical/electrical invention of limited complexity. The classification of an invention as SIMPLE, COMPLEX, or VERY COMPLEX is a determination made by the Attorney, not the inventor. Applicant should provide a detailed invention disclosure (written description) and some sketches or drawings illustrating the invention, or a draft Provisional, preferably in electronic form (MS-WORD, text file, .pdf, etc.).
Patent Office Filing fee (Provisional, Small Entity) [1]	$100.00
Draftsman's fee (if required)	$0.00
Preparation and Drafting of Specification; informal drawings, and Abstract, in standard Patent Office Application Format	$1275.00
Photocopying/Postage/Faxing/FedEx (est.) [2]	$25.00
TOTAL..............................................................................................................	1400.00
In order to keep overhead down, We generally require a 50% advance on fees up front to cover PTO fees and expenses and at least a portion of professional services, which will be charged against upon rendering of our services. If you wish to proceed with a Provisional Application, we will need and advance of:......................................................................................	700.00
Allowance is made for reasonable amount of additional disclosure matters, provided that clean and accurate drawings accompany any additional disclosure. We will try to file with informal drawings to save drafting costs

PART II: Formal Application (Follow-up to the Provisional)
NOTE: If you decide to forego the Provisional Process, the overall cost for filing the formal will be the sum of the Provisional and Formal quotes, minus the $100 Provisional filing fee.
Filing fee (basic)	500.00
Draftsman's Fee (if required) [4]	250.00
Revision of Specification; drafting of Claims	1,750.00
Preparing and filing Information Disclosure Statement	175.00
Photocopying/Postage/Faxing/FedEx (est.)	25.00
TOTAL..............................................................................................................	$2,700.00
TOTAL (if skipping the Provisional Stage)....................................................	$4,000.00
In addition, we agree to file up to two (2) responses to Office Action on Merits (OAM) for our fee of (each).................................................................	$1,200.00
Thus, the total cost of going through the basic patent prosecution process (i.e., filing plus two OAMs) would be..............................................................	$6,400.00
In order to keep my overhead down, I generally require a 50% advance on fees up front to cover PTO fees and expenses and at least a portion of professional services, which will be charged against upon rendering of our services. If you wish to proceed with a Formal Application directly, we will require an advance of:...............................................................................	$2,000.00

PART III: Post-Allowance Expenses
We provide you with this portion in our price quotation to apprise you of additional, post-allowance expenses so they do not come as a surprise to you later on. Please note that Patent Office fees are changed every October, and this quotation is not a guarantee of any PTO fees.
Issue fee (Patent Office) [3]	$700.00
Publication Fee	300.00
Formal drawings – estimate [4]	0.00
Our fee for paying Issue Fee, submitting formal drawings and docketing of same.............................................................................................................	275.00
TOTAL..............................................................................................................	1,275.00
Thus, we estimate the overall costs of obtaining a patent after two office actions as..........................................................................................................	$7,675.00
NOTE THAT THE PATENT PROCESS IS OPEN-ENDED, AND ACTUAL COSTS MAY BE HIGHER

Please review our PATENT PROCESS FLOWCHART for a more complete understanding of the Patent Process. Note when comparing our Price Quote to others (and we encourage you to shop around!), be sure you are comparing comparable services. Many attorneys engage in the practice of offering verbal price quotes which are vague and/or incomplete. If your attorney says he can “do it” for a “few thousand” does that mean filing the application, or further prosecution? What is a “few”? Get it in writing. If your attorney cannot provide a written price quote, I would suggest you walk away, unless you want to sign a blank check.

As illustrated in our FLOWCHART, the attorney-client relationship for a Patent application can go on for several years or more, so be sure to understand the overall costs from start to finish before committing to the process. These PRICE QUOTES are designed to help you understand the overall costs involved (not just the starting costs!). If you would like an individual price quote, signed and mailed to you residence, please contact us and provide us with a copy of your invention disclosure.

Note that we do not guarantee patentability of any invention, nor do we promote or encourage you to obtain patent protection. The ultimate decision is up to you and should be made after carefully considering the costs and benefits of patent protection. Whether or not you should obtain a Patent is a BUSINESS DECISION not a LEGAL DECISION.

Applicant should be prepared to assist in prosecution of the application by studying references and Office Actions of the Examiner and providing any comments and suggestions where necessary. It has been our experience that in approximately 30-50% of applications filed by our firm, the Patent Office may require filing of a Continuing Prosecution Application (CPA) to continue prosecution beyond the initial two Office Actions on the Merits.

In order to proceed with your application, we will require a 50% advance on fees and services, along with a signed copy of this agreement. The balance is due upon filing of the application, unless agreed otherwise. See our FIRM POLICIES page regarding payments and invoicing.

In addition to the above charges, our firm charges a minimum fee of $150.00 for filing any other Patent Office documents. These documents would, among other things, include responses to Restriction Requirements, Notice to File Missing Parts, additional Information Disclosure Statements, along with any other miscellaneous communications to the Patent Office.

Also note that the above price quote does not include preparation of Assignment documents and recording of same at the Patent Office. If you require basic Assignment documents, our fee for preparing and filing such documents is $150. There is also a Patent Office fee of $40 for recordation.

Our fees for extended prosecution will be along the lines of those set forth above. We will gladly provide you with a written quotation upon request for any extended prosecution services (Appeal, Continuing Prosecution Application, Interference, and the like).

WORK FLOW PROCESSING, TELEPHONE CONSULTATIONS

In order to maintain an even and orderly flow of work, we process Applications and Office Actions based upon the order in which they are received and upon outstanding due dates. The above price quotation reflects processing of your Patent Application based upon industry standard practices.

Thus, for example, if a response to an Office Action is due by a three month deadline, we will file a response on or before that deadline. As we have a number of outstanding cases pending for other clients, we cannot advance a particular case ahead of another pending due case for special consideration. If there are special considerations or deadlines, please let us know. There are, of course, additional charges for any "rush" work orders.

On rare occasion, we may become momentarily overwhelmed with work to the point where an extension of time may be necessary. If such an extension of time is necessary due to our delay, our firm will gladly cover the cost of such an extension of time, as well as any costs associated in preparing and filing the extension of time.

At the present time, we do not charge for brief telephone consultations with clients to answer questions regarding application status or to clarify any matter. However, we do ask that you read all materials carefully before calling. Moreover, if you have extensive questions, please put them in writing. We do reserve the right to charge for telephone consultations of excessive length, or for an excessive number of telephone calls. As you can appreciate, such calls make it difficult to get any work done and disrupt our practice.

Please consult our FIRM POLICIES page at www.robertplattbell.com for more details on firm policies.

FOOTNOTES:

1 Small Entity Status reduces most Patent Office fees by 50%. Small Entity Status may be obtained if you are an individual, qualify as a small business as determined by the Small Business Administration (e.g., fewer than 500 employees) or are an educational institution. Note also that the "basic" filing fee is illustrated here. Additional fees are due for each claim in excess of 20, and each additional independent claim in excess of 3.

2 This number is only an estimate of these overhead costs. You will be invoiced for actual costs, per industry practice.

Our standard charge for photocopying is $0.20 per page.

Our standard charge for domestic fax is $0.50 per page.

Our standard charge for overseas fax is $1.00 per page.

Postage/FedEx/Delivery is invoiced at actual costs. We prefer to use USPS PRIORITY MAIL ($3.95 per package) to reduce postage and delivery costs

3 All Patent Office fees are periodically raised in October by approximately 5%. This price quotation is not a guarantee of future Patent Office fees, but is provided only to give you a good faith estimate of the overall costs involved.

4 You will be invoiced for actual formal drawing costs. At the present time, these run anywhere from $50 to $100 per sheet. Note that the PTO requires reproducible drawings for publication, often with very short notice. Thus, we suggest preparing FORMAL drawings for filing or submission shortly thereafter.