11. What is the cost of getting patent in UK for my invention?

What is the cost of getting patent in UK

The official patent cost for filing a patent application in UK is £60 if paid at the time of filing the patent application otherwise it is £75. Attorney fees for drafting a patent application in UK would be around £800 to £1200. or (USD 1000 to USD 1500) based on the complexity of the invention.

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How much is the cost of getting a patent in UK? There is no precise and accurate answer to this question as the cost of obtaining a patent is dependent on multiple factors, however lets discuss approximate range of costs involved at each stage from invention disclosure to grant of patent

There are two elements for the cost of getting a patent in UK:

  • The costs for Patent Office (UK IPO) fees for Forms, requests, and renewals.
  • Professional Charges for patent agent / attorney 

Before we proceed, One thing (question) most certainly hits the inventors mind at least once in the process of getting a patent for his invention that is:

“If I am the creator of the invention, I know it inside out and I can describe it in a detailed manner then why does Patent Attorney charge so much fees to write my patent application in the right format ?”

To get a quick and self-evident answer to your question, check our section on Why Patent Attorney charges so much fees just to write my patent application?

As a matter of fact, Patent attorney Professional charges are the most expensive component which drastically varies based on the complexity of the invention to be patented, the field of invention, and the experience of the patent attorney.

Government fees too, are different for an individual inventor, micro-entities, small entities, and large entities. and fees for patent application also differ based on a number of claims and charges for professional drawings etc. So, a lot of factors need to be considered when talking about costs involved in getting a patent in UK.

Selecting the Right patent attorney for your invention at the right cost can be a more complex process than you would have imagined.

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)

Note: these costs are mentioned are exemplary and may vary with respect to patent attorneys and IPR firms.

The link here is the fees structure mentioned at UK IPO website.

Stage 1: invention disclosure

This is the initial phase when you (inventor) disclose your invention to the patent attorney you selected to work with (patent agent) by signing a Non-disclosure agreement. This agreement is to ensure the confidentiality of your invention and there are no charges for signing NDA.

When writing Invention disclosure for your invention you should submit each know fact about your invention, description diagrams, and experimental results (if any). Hold nothing back. The disclosure of the invention must be 

  • described in substantial details
  • includes pictures, flowcharts, diagrams wherever applicable
  • Optionally includes experimental data proving novelty and non-obviousness
  • Charts and tables about research and development 

This helps patent attorneys in patent research as well as the drafting process.

Stage 2: Novelty search / Patentability Search

In this phase, patent attorney/agent performed an extensive search for prior art in all possible databases for patent, articles, thesis, etc… And builds a patentability search report based on the closest prior art found for your invention. Although an optional step, Doing a novelty search for your invention can really save you thousands of dollars for involving in the patent process for an invention that is not novel and already known to the public.

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

The patent attorney generally prefers to have an independent opinion about the novelty search so most of them outsource it to a patent researcher.

Stage 3: Opinion about patentability

Upon receiving the novelty search report for your invention, the next step is a critical review by a patent attorney to build an opinion about the patentability of your invention. Here the cost defers based on the complexity of invention and number of closely associated prior arts found in the research. This opinion tells you (inventor) whether it would be wise to proceed with patent filing or not.

Cost: the cost for providing patentability opinion ranges from £80 to £100
Time required: The time required for providing patentability opinion ranges from 3-4 hours to a couple of days based on the complexity of the invention and prior arts cited in the novelty search report

On reviewing the patentability search report and discovered the closest prior arts for your invention you can make a decision on whether to go ahead with patent application filing. Your patentability opinion should be positive, that is, your invention needs to have an “inventive step” as compared with existing prior art to be able to qualify for a patent.

When you decide to go ahead with patent filing next step is writing a patent application also called patent drafting.

Stage 4: Patent writing or patent drafting

Drafting a patent application is a specialized job and requires both technical (field of the invention) and legal (UK patent law) understanding. Patent is a techno-legal document. Many inventors trying to write a patent application on their own write it from a completely technical perspective. Writing a patent application as a technical document without considering the legal aspect may be a mistake that can make your application not worth a lot. And all the efforts you took for research and development can go waste.

Hence, a right patent attorney with appropriate experience can remarkably add value to patent application.

If you are still thinking, whether you would be saving few thousand of dollars by writing and filing your patent application on your own (without the help of a patent attorney) our secion would help you decide if you can go for patent drafting and filing on your own (Do it yourself) or do I really need to hire a patent attorney for writing and filing patent application ?

Drafting of patent application is a most important step in the entire life cycle of Patent for the protection of your invention. This is the step where the real skills of a patent attorney come into play as patent drafting is: 

  • the most time consuming
  • most complex
  • and skillful task that requires years of experience in technology as well as patent law 

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.

Stage 5: Filing Patent application

Patent filing involves patent office fees as explained in the table below

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

When you are done with the review of the patent drafted and satisfied with the scope and technical details in the patent application, you can file the patent application at UK IPO, with appropriate forms with appropriate fees. Publication of patent application occurs after the expiration of an 18-month period following the earliest effective filing date or priority date claimed by an application.

Stage 6: Patent Examination

Patent examination fees is as following

Patent Examination Fees for UK IPO is £100

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

After the application is filed, the U. K. Patent Office takes the application up for examination (usually in about 12-36 months). In this stage, patent examiners at UK IPO conduct their own search related to your invention (patent application) and issue an office action.

Stage 7: Office action

Office action contains the objections raised about your patent application by the patent examiner, which can range from a variety of objections. You (inventor) has a chance to respond to objection and put your side in front of the examiner, this is something called “response to office actions” in most cases the response is drafted with the help of your patent attorney.

This is a chance for an inventor to communicate his novelty or inventive step over prior arts found in the examination report. The inventor and patent attorney create and send a response to the office action that tries to prove that his invention is indeed patentable and satisfies all patentability criteria. or optionally modifies the claims accepting objections raised, that is the applicant may amend the patent application as specifically required by the examiner and proceed with the grant of patent.

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.

Stage 8: Grant of Patent / Issue of Patent

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

Stage 9: Renewal of patent fees

You need to renew the patent application in 4th year from filing date and subsequently the renewal should happen every year before the last day of month in which the filing date is recorded. The renewal can be done 3 months before or 1 month after the expected date (due date).

refer to the section about patent newal fees on UK IPO

For details on steps and procedures for getting patent in UK refer sections in list below

Prasad Karhad
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