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Preparing & Filing an Application
A patent application must include a specification describing the invention, accompanied by drawings where appropriate. Claims defining the scope of exclusive right sought are also required. The specification, claims and drawings are tailored to various formal and substantive requirements of the country in which the application is to be filed. The description in the specification must be sufficiently complete to enable a person skilled in the field of the invention to understand the invention, and to make, operate and use it to best advantage. As a practical matter, it is usually impossible for anyone other than a duly qualified patent practitioner to draft acceptable claims. Formal papers, (declaration or petition, power of attorney, assignment of rights where appropriate, etc.) must also be prepared in accordance with national requirements.
Our billing for preparing and filing a patent application is based on certain fixed overhead charges, disbursements made, and professional time spent in drafting the application, preparing formal documents and drawings, and organizing tasks such as typing and copying. We spend only the professional time that we consider necessary to prepare what in our view and yours is a satisfactory patent application. When we first receive instructions from a client, we have only a preliminary understanding of the invention. Typically, many hours are required for us to acquire a sufficient understanding to enable us to decide exactly how best to describe and claim the invention in the patent application. Frequently, additional information must be obtained from the client before the application can be completed. We cannot at the outset predict all of the problems that may be encountered in the preparation of the application. Thus we cannot give an exact estimate of expected fees and charges.
For the foregoing reason, we often recommend to the client, especially for more complex preparation tasks, a three-stage approach to our provision of services. In an initial consultation typically lasting less than an hour, we can sometimes recommend against proceeding any further for various reasons. But if we can together foresee our providing useful service to you within a reasonable budget, we may recommend as a second stage a preliminary evaluation of your invention(s) and objectives. During that preliminary evaluation, we may visit your premises to view your technology or prototypes, perform some preliminary searching or other investigations, and/or make a preliminary review of critical legal and procedural points. We would, with your assistance, identify a set of inventions or inventive features to be protected, provide a ballpark budget for the initial preparation and filing of one or more patent applications, and establish a suitable strategy for maximizing results while attempting to minimize expense, especially initial expense, because we recognize that many of our clients face multiple start-up costs. Fees and disbursements for this second stage typically run from about $1,000 to $5,000, occasionally more, depending upon the number and extent of second-stage tasks and the complexity of the matter, and on whether or not preliminary searching is desirable or necessary. We can usually during or following our initial consultation give you a reasonably close estimate of the expected cost of the second-stage activity. One of the results of the second-stage activity would be a ballpark budget for each of the tasks envisaged for the third stage, namely the preparation of one or more patent applications. You may then elect whether to proceed to the third stage for any or all of the various third-stage tasks and services that we have identified.
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