Action Patents charges $100 per hour for patent preparation and prosecution.  There are additional costs such as filing fees and possibly drawing fees. The cost of a typical patent application gernally runs from $3,000 for simple inventions to over $7,000 for complex business methods and software inventions.  

The legal fees vary depending upon the technical complexity of the subject matter, the quality of the written description provided by the inventor, and the number of revisions required to accurately describe your invention.  If you provide a good written description of the invention, your legal fees are less. Government fees are subject to change.

Once an application is filed, there are other costs incurred while the patent is pending. The United States Patent and Trademark Office will issue an "Office Action" setting forth their findings on patentability and may require the Applicant to file a response. After one or two responses outstanding issues are usually resolved. Each response generally incurs about $1,000 in legal fees. After the patent is allowed there is an issue fee of $700 plus a $200 preparation fee. 

Once a patent issues there are maintenance fees at 3 1/2, 7 1/2, and 11 1/2 years. They are presently $450, $1,150 and $1,900 respectively for small entities. The maintenance fees are subject to change by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Licensing can take place any time after the application is filed. Some manufacturers prefer to license an invention while it is still in the patent pending stage.

We require your express authorization to prepare a patent application, and we require a retainer before beginning.  The balance of the initial legal fee, filing fee and expenses are due when the application is signed by you before filing in the Patent Office. The prosecution fees and expenses will be billed to you at the time the work is done.