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AIPLA Testimony on Patent Preparation and Prosecution Cost

By William F. Heinze

Thanks to Peter Zura's 271 Patent Blog for pointing out that "While not everyone has a handy copy of each AIPLA Economic Survey, Alan Kasper, First Vice-President of the AIPLA, provided a brief glimpse into the costs involved in [patent prosecution during] his testimony before Congress."

According to Kasper:

The costs to prepare and file a non-provisional utility patent application are substantial and are reported in the AIPLA Report of the Economic Survey 2007.
For example, the preparation and filing of an original application of minimal complexity (10 page specification, 10 claims) on average by a firm having my
firm?s size is $8,548.00. Similar costs exist for relatively complex biotechnology/chemical cases ($15,398.00), relatively complex mechanical cases ($11,482.00) and relatively complex electrical/computer cases ($13,684). The average cost for filing an Amendment in a case of minimal complexity is $2,244.00, in a relatively complex biotechnology/chemical case is ($4,448.00), in a relatively complex electrical/computer case is ($3,910.00) and in a relatively complex
mechanical case is ($3,506.00). (Pages I-78, I-79 and I-80 of the Survey).
The government fees related to such filings are the same (unless the Applicant
is a small entity) -- $1,030.00. The cost for filing an RCE is $810.00 plus a
service charge, which in the case of my firm, is $350.00. The cost for filing
of a continuation application is $1,030.00 plus a service charge, which in
the case of my firm is $585.00.

"Those numbers shock me," comments Stephen Nipper at the Invent Blog. "I guess that is the disadvantage (to me) of practicing (1) in a small firm and (2) in Boise, Idaho."

Full post as published by I/P Updates on March 01, 2008 (boomark / email).