Steps and Procedure for getting Patent in UK

Steps and Procedure for getting Patent in UK

“Procedure for obtaining a patent in UK has the following steps: capturing your idea for creating complete invention disclosure, conducting a patentability search, drafting a patent application, filing the application, publication of application, examination, Office action, responding to objections, and grant of the patent.”

Table of Contents

Step 1: Going from idea to complete invention disclosure

Every invention has its beginning in an Idea. In this phase, you capture your idea properly, get clarity on each element of the innovative idea, and fill-in the blank spots with appropriate research and experiment.

Preliminary search: this search is for finding answers to questions that build a working disclosure or comprehensive invention disclosure.

  • What problem my invention is intended to solve? How does it work?
  • What are the elements or components of my invention ?
  • Can I draw a block diagram or device or flowchart or sketch that explains my invention in a better way ?
  • How the elements or components are inter connected
  • How each element is functioning in accordance with other element
  • Can I search and collect information about all elements, parts or component of my invention so that there are no blank spots.
from idea to invention disclosure

This is the most important phase for the inventor where we go from an idea stage to a working invention disclosure that can be discussed with a patent agent or attorney. we have a complete section about actions to take and worksheets Refer to the section Step 1 : from idea to invention disclosure.

Include drawings, diagrams, or sketches explaining the working of the invention. they play an important role in understanding your invention. Once you have your innovative idea completely captured with all technical details, then you perform a preliminary search.

The outcome: of this step is a complete invention disclosure that covers all aspects of your invention without any missing elements or blank spots.

You may check our detailed video on Information needed to file a patent application: creating invention disclosure

Visit our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@Patentattorneyworldwide

Stage wise break down of Cost for getting patent in UK

This cost requires in stages as your invention proceeds from 

  • Novelty Search £250 to £320 or (USD 250 to USD 400)
  • Patent drafting and filing in UK £800 to £1200 or (USD 1000 to USD 1500), and after 1 to 2 years
  • Response to office actions typically requires  £400 to £800 or (USD 500 to USD 1000)

Step 2: Patentability search or Novelty search (optional step)

In this step, a comprehensive search is conducted to find out whether your invention meets patentability criteria in UK which are : 

The patentability search is aimed towards finding out the novelty and non-obviousness of the invention, the search identifies the closes possible prior arts (known to the public) relating to your invention, and based on the results obtained an opinion about the patentability of your invention may be provided by patent agent or attorney. The patentability opinion may be positive, negative, or neutral.

A positive patentability opinion indicates you stand a good chance to get your patent granted for your invention. This search (novelty or patetability) saves us from filing patent for an invention for which 100% overlapping prior arts are readily available to public. in such cases the patentability search would give a negative opinion. The patentability report and opinion helps you decide whether to go ahead with the filing of a patent or not, chances are what you thought as a novel might already have been patented or known to the public.

Novelty search or patentability search report saves lots of time, efforts and cost for you preventing you from filing an invention which is not Novel. therefore although optional it is a recommended step in patent procedure. For more details on this Refer section on ” novelty search or patentability search ”

Cost of patentability search: the professional fees for a Patent attorney can range from £250 to £320 or (USD 250 to USD 400)

Time required for patentability search: the time required is about 5-7 working days

Why patentability search or Novelty search is recommended (although optional step) ?

  • The novel aspect of the invention identified via patentability search can be leveraged while writing patent application and especially claims of patent such that our patent application stands a good chance going through the examination stage to a granted patent.
  • In case the patentability opinion is negative, then it saves a lot of cost and time which would have unnecessarily invested in proceeding with the patent filing process and eventually getting the patent application rejected. 
  • It helps you in taking decision whether to proceed with patent filing or not and estimating chances of getting patent for your invention.

Step 3: Patent drafting / Patent writing

A patent is a techno-legal document, that means patent has technical as well as legal aspects to it. Patent drafting / patent writing is a specialized job, it requires years of practice and experience with patent law as well as an understanding of the field of the invention, along with general understanding of case-laws and overall rules and regulations in patent prosecution to be able to draft a good patent application.

There are many rules and care to be taken while drafting claims, writing detailed descriptions, writing different embodiment of the invention, describing inventive step etc… which a first-timer or inexperienced patent writer may miss and hence end up not getting proper protection for invention (or sometimes even rejection of patent). Writing patent as a project report or a technical thesis (on your own ) and submitting it to patent office would be a mistake which can cause loss of opportunity to patent your invention.

To get a quick understanding, you may quickly read some granted patents from your field (domain) and realize that it is a complex document and it completely defers from a thesis or a project report written with ordinary skills.

A good patent application should :

Writing a good patent application is one of the most important step in life cycle of a patent and a good patent application written by an experienced patent agent / attorney should survive not only through the examination phase till the grant of patent but also it should survive the commercialization phase where actual money is made by licensing or selling patent rights, where competitors should not be able to work around your patent.

Writing such patent application is a skill and it is explained in detail in our section on “writing patent application (patent drafting)”

Cost of patent drafting in UK : The cost for drafting a patent application in UK varies in a great deal as it is dependent on multiple factors like field of invention and complexity and the cost can range from about £800 to £1200. or (USD 1000 to USD 1500)

Cost of drafting Patent application in UK:

Simple inventionComplex inventionVery complex invention
£800 £900 £1200

Time required to draft a patent application in UK : it takes about 1 to 2 weeks time for a patent attorney to draft an application for an invention. It certainly can take more time based on complexity, length of the detailed description, and availability of patent attorney’s time.

Step 4: Filing a patent application

When you are ready with the well drafted patent application, you can file it in UK intellectual property office.

there are few options while filing patent application, you can file entire patent application along with filing fees at the time of filing patent application or you may choose to file only description and drawings and initial stage and you can file claims and abstract later, but sending things seperately may increase the delay in getting patent granted. It is recommended to file entire patent application in one go and by paying filing fees along with search fees to speedup the process and get quicker grant for patent.

The patents are territorial in nature, so if you file a patent in UK, you are getting protection in UK only. You cannot stop the use of invention outside UK. Therefore, if you desire that your invention should be protected in multiple countries, depending on your preference of countries, different options, paths and strategies for filing patent application are to be adopted with the guidance of a patent agent/attorney. You may check Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application.

the details about patent filing are explained in the section “filing patent application”

fees for filing patent application :

Form no.TitleCost
1Request for grant of patentapplication fee is reduced to £60 if paid at the time of filing patent application
AF1Pay the application fee if it has not already been paid with Form 1 or Form 9A£75

Step 5: Publication of application

Patent application is published after the expiry of 18 months from the earliest filing date, however if you (applicant) request that your application be published early by requesting accelerated publication the IPO may publish the patent application earlier than end of 18 month period that is within 6 weeks.

Step 6: Examination of Patent Application

After filing patent application in to UK IPO, a search is conducted to check if the invention is novel and inventive and then the patent application is published.

After publication of application it is taken for “Substantive examination”. In this substantive examination, the patent application is examined for requirement of novelty and inventive step. also, the patent application is checked for any reasons for not granting the patent.

You can request for examination at the time of filing patent application or within 6 months of publication, it does not happen automatically. If you request at the time of filing patent application, the substantive examination can happen within 6 months.

The substantive examination could take place within 6 months of your application if you request it when you file your initial application. If you request it later, it may be several years before it’s done.

Patent Examination Fees for UK IPO is £100

Form 10Request a substantive examination online£100 + £10 for each page of description over 35

Step 7: Response to objections

The majority of patent applicants (inventors) will receive some type of objections based on the examination report. The objections raised on your patent application would be communicated with you, by official letter from the UK IPO, also known as an Office Action in other countries. You would get the opportunity to make amendments or contest the objections raised within a given time.

The best thing to do it analyze the examination report with patent agent / attorney and creating a response to the objections raised.

This is a chance for an inventor / applicant to communicate his side of the equation and making desired changes in the patent application to comply the objections received.

The inventor and patent professional create a response to the objections that tries to prove that his invention is indeed patentable and satisfies all patentability criteria. Or optionally accepts the objections and amends the patent application as pointed out in the examination report.

If UK IPO is satisfied with the response to the objections or the amended patent application. Upon finding the patent application in order of grant, the patent is granted to you (inventor) /  applicant as early as possible !!!

Professional Fees: The patent attorney fees is from £400 to £800 or (USD 500 to USD 1000) for response to office action depending upon complexity, subject matter, and the number of objections.

Step 8: Grant of patent / Notice of Allowance

If the examiner determines that your application is in satisfactory condition and meets the requirements, you will receive grant of patent. When your patent is granted, it would be published in a final form and a certificate for grant of patent is sent to you (the applicant for patent).

In the normal situation the there is no fees for grant of patent however if claims and or pages exceed the limit then it would be charged fees as below

Form 34Grant fee for patent application£20 for each additional excess claim + £10 for each additional excess page

Selecting the right patent attorney for your invention

for more information on the process, the inventor should follow while selecting the right patent attorney in UK to work with and regarding deciding whether to go for a most expensive attorney or the most economic attorney for patenting your invention check our section on 

Prasad Karhad
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