STANDARD SCHEDULE OF TYPICAL ATTORNEY CHARGES AND GOVERNMENT FEES
FOR
USA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW MATTERS
October 1, 2009 -
September 30, 2010 (17th Revision. First published 1993-09-15)
THE BURDICK LAW FIRM
NOTES:
1.
---These are ESTIMATED MINIMUM fees. Your actual fee will probably be slightly higher due to the
special complexities of your case, if any. (If you doubt that,
check this higher fee schedule from another patent attorney http://www.connorspatentlaw.com/fee.html.)
This burdlaw.com fee schedule is intended to assist you in estimating MINIMUM typical
USA intellectual property fees. It is not the schedule for any particular case
or firm, including our own, as most firms adjust their fees to stay competitive
with other firms in pricing. High Volume clients get special pricing due to
economies of scale and any additional complexity to the issues or technology
raises fees. Please note that the OFFICIAL UNITED STATES PATENT
AND TRADEMARK OFFICE FEES and/or OFFICIAL UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT
OFFICE FEES incorporated in the fee schedule below are typically
raised October 1 of each year by about 3%, so many US attorneys (me included)
adjust their intellectual property schedules around that time to reflect new
Government fees so fee schedules are only good for a limited period, usually
about a year. If you have any doubt as to the accuracy of an official
Government fee listed in the schedule, check the United States Patent and Trademark
Office Official Fee Schedule (for patents and trademarks) or Copyright Office Official Fee
Schedule (for copyrights). For
example, most novices to trademarks are surprised that the Government fee for
renewing a trademark (including a requisite affidavit of use) is $500 while it
only costs as little as $275 to file the original application. Most novices to patents are surprised that
an application can be filed for $110 (small entity provisional) but an 800 fee
must be paid to have it issued and maintenance fees of up to $3000 are
required. This is because the United
States Patent and Trademark Office fees are rear end loaded to make those reaping
financial reward through valuable issued patents and trademarks pay most of the
fees so that initial filings are encouraged and actually subsidized.
2.
---These are TYPICAL MINIMUM fees for rough estimation purposes to help you
spot cut-rate or inflated fees, which may indicate cut-rate quality or
over-charging. High quality intellectual property legal work does not come
cheap and good firms seldom cut fees below these minimums, because they know
the minimum amount of time and expense required for quality performance of the
various services they perform. Fees on
individual matters may vary, particularly in patent cases, since the higher the
technical complexity or more detailed the invention, the more attorney time is
required for a good patent disclosure.
3.---Most
firms, including ours, are willing to discuss, and in appropriate cases, enter
into special fee arrangements with high volume customers or consider other
special need situations. Some firms, including ours, do "pro bono
publico" (for the good of the public, i.e. charity) work in limited
amount. Many firms, including ours, are willing to discuss and enter into
alternative billing formulations such as FLAT HOURLY FEES, FLAT FIXED FEES,
CAPPED HOURLY FEES, FLOORED HOURLY FEES, CONTINGENT FEES, BARTERING
ARRANGEMENTS, etc. Call or email if you are interested in alternative billing
arrangements. Regardless of how billed,
though, the MINIMUM fees are likely to be at least as high as those listed
below. Generally, but not always, the
larger the law firm the higher the minimum fees since large firms have bigger
overhead due to fancy offices, more expensive equipment, more support staff and
often time consuming office politics and communications. Also, smaller firms generally give better
customer service to smaller clients while larger firms generally give better
service to larger clients. We can
explain why this is true although for most it will be self-evident.
3.---The
official fees (in yellow below) are generally fixed and (except for PCT cases
and except for claims fees) usually are not affected much by complexity, but
the actual attorney fees (in turquoise below) will be much higher if the legal
issues are unusual and/or technology issues are much more complex than minimum. For example a patent application on a new
baby bottle costs only a fraction of what a patent application on a major
pharmaceutical blockbuster or a major commercial software release costs because
it requires only a fraction of the attorney time to prepare and does not
require a patent attorney with a PhD whereas the pharmaceutical patent
application might.
4.
--- Most US Firms will be happy to give you a free initial consultation of up
to about a half hour so they can meet you and determine how much work your situation
might require and will gladly give fee estimates upon request after a review of
your case information to determine what may be needed, so if a firm declines to
do so there is a good chance the firm is either unqualified, overpriced or not
very experienced.
5.---
Most US Firms give the initial
consultation (a) in confidence to protect both you and the
law firm and (b) for free or for
a significantly reduced price to encourage new clients and (c) most do a
preliminary conflict of interest check to determine if they must refuse your
work due to a prior relationship with another client. The larger and older the firm, the more
clients it will have had, so the more likely it is that the firm will decline
your case due to a conflict.
MINIMUM CHARGES - TRADEMARKS
|
DESCRIPTION |
ATTORNEY |
OFFICIAL |
TOTAL |
|
Online Identity Search, wordmark, online identity
, per mark, per class (included in application fee, if application filed) |
100 |
none |
100 |
|
Search, full, per mark, per class |
500 - 800 |
none |
500 - 800 |
|
US Application for registration, filed
online, in one class (includes online identity search and description of
goods and services in accordance with official US guidelines) Each additional class Surcharge for paper-only filing (not
recommended, strongly discouraged , and only done if you insist) |
225 75 100 |
275 275 100 |
500 350 200 |
|
Claiming priority, per class |
100 |
|
100 |
|
Amendment to Allege Use |
150 |
100 |
250 |
|
Request Extension of Time to File |
150 |
150 |
300 |
|
Application for renewal (including
affidavit of continuing use) - timely/late |
350/ 400 |
500/ 600 |
850 / 1000 |
|
Drawing up and filing a reply to an
official action short/med/long |
125/250/500+* |
Varies (normally none) |
110-420+ gov. fee (if any) |
|
Negotiating with an opponent prior to |
|
|
|
|
Affidavit of Continuing Use |
150 |
100 |
250 |
|
Affidavit of Incontestability |
150 |
200 |
350 |
|
Affidavit of Continuing
Use/Incontestability |
250 one class, plus 150 each
additional class |
300 |
550 one class plus 450 each
additional class |
|
Combined Renewal and Affidavit of
Continuing Use |
250 one class, plus 150 each
additional class |
500 |
750 one class plus 650 each
additional class |
|
Filing an opposition / cancellation |
840* |
300 |
1140* |
|
Additional services rendered in handling |
200/hr |
? |
200/hr |
|
Recording of Power of Attorney (free if
power is to our firm) |
75 |
none |
75 |
|
Request
for Extension of Time to File Opposition (First) |
100* |
none |
100 |
|
Recording
Assignment or Security Instrument(US) |
150 |
40 |
190 |
|
Recording
Assignment of Security Instrument ( |
150 |
40 |
190 |
|
Recordal
of merger or change of name of |
150 |
40 |
190 |
|
Obtaining
priority certificates of |
75 |
30 |
105 |
|
Filing
an administrative (ex parte) appeal against a refusal |
420* |
100 |
520 |
|
Taking
over prosecution of a trademark |
210 |
|
210 |
|
Notice
of Opposition (per class) |
500 |
300 |
800 |
|
Petition
for Cancellation (per class) |
500 |
300 |
800 |
|
|
300* |
varies |
varies |
|
* Hourly rate applies to items of complexity over minimum, such as where application is rejected by United States Patent and Trademark Office for other than simple technical reasons. |
|||
MINIMUM CHARGES - PATENTS
For a detailed explanation of patent fees from another firm (to
verify the reasonableness of the fees quoted here) see http://www.ipwatchdog.com/patent/patent-attorney-fees-explained/
|
DESCRIPTION |
ATTORNEY |
OFFICIAL |
TOTAL |
|
Modifications to disclosure |
Hourly* |
-- |
Hourly* |
|
Patentability
Search without Opinion |
400 |
|
400 |
|
Patentability
Search with Opinion |
750 |
|
750 |
|
File US
Provisional Patent Appl. (small / large entity) with disclosure as prepared
by client |
500 min * (varies greatly
with complexity) |
110 |
610* (varies greatly with
complexity)* |
|
File
US Provisional Patent Appl. (small / large entity) with disclosure prepared
by attorney based on sketchy disclosure by client |
2000 min * (varies greatly
with complexity) |
110 |
2110* (varies greatly with
complexity)* |
|
File US Patent Appl. (small / large
entity) Fee for each indep. claim over 3 Fee for each claim in excess of 20 |
3500 min.* (varies greatly
with complexity) |
395/790 44/88 18/36 |
3,395/ 3,790* (varies greatly
with complexity)* 44/88 18/36 |
|
Filing a PCT (Int'l) Patent application |
2,500* |
2,607+ |
5107+* |
|
Translation of specification and claims |
|
|
|
|
Formal drawings, per sheet |
120 |
|
120 |
|
Claiming Priority (with document) |
100' |
|
100' |
|
Late filing oath |
100 |
130 |
230 |
|
Filing an appeal and brief (small/large) |
1,000* |
890 / 445 |
1890*/1445* |
|
Reporting an Official action (minimum) |
150 |
|
150 |
|
Attend to minor official requirements |
100' |
|
100 |
|
Replying to an Official action (minimum) |
250* |
250* |
|
|
Requesting extension of time: |
|
|
|
|
Notice of Appeal (minimum) |
100* |
340/170 |
440/270 |
|
Preparing and filing appeal brief |
750* |
340/170 |
840/670 |
|
Request for oral appeal hearing |
50 |
300/150 |
350/200 |
|
Final steps of prosecution, pay issue
fee, |
300 |
1,370/675 |
1,670 / 975 |
|
1st Maintenance (large/small) |
125 |
940/470 |
1065/595
2275/1200 3445/1785 |
|
Recordal of assignment of applied patent |
150 |
40 |
190 |
|
Recordal of assignment of granted patent |
150 |
40 |
190 |
|
On receipt of Power of Attorney,
ratifying |
|
|
|
|
Enter National stage, (PCT) - search done
by EPO or JP |
500* |
1110/555 |
1610/1055* |
|
*
Indicates that hourly rate applies
to items over minimum. Note that for patent applications, the technical
disclosure depends on the complexity of the invention. Most individuals have relatively simple
disclosures, although there are exceptions, particularly in the chemical,
medical, computer and biological fields.
Most companies have more sophisticated disclosures such that the
minimums are usually exceeded significantly. |
|||
MINIMUM CHARGES - DESIGN PATENTS
|
DESCRIPTION |
ATTORNEY |
OFFICIAL |
TOTAL |
|
Filing a Design Patent application |
650 |
175/350 |
825/1000 |
|
Responding to Official Action (typical) |
300 |
|
300 |
|
Formal drawings, per sheet |
100 |
|
100 |
|
Claiming Priority ' |
50 |
|
50 |
|
Final steps of prosecution, processing |
|
|
|
|
Recordal of assignment of applied design |
160 |
40 |
200 |
|
Recordal of assignment of granted design |
160 |
40 |
200 |
|
On receipt of Power of Attorney,
ratifying |
|
|
|
MINIMUM CHARGES - PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATIONS
Hourly Rate: Attorneys $150 - $350 / hr. + expenses Paralegals $ 60 - $ 120 / hr. + expenses
|
DESCRIPTION |
ATTORNEY |
OFFICIAL |
TOTAL |
|
Prepare and file application using high
quality client |
|
|
|
|
Prepare and file application using sparse
disclosure (small/large entity) |
|
|
|
|
Additional charge for late filing of fee |
100 |
25/50 |
125/150 |
|
Modifications to disclosure |
Hourly* |
-- |
Hourly* |
|
*
Indicates that hourly rate applies
to items over minimum. Note that for patent applications, the technical
disclosure depends on the complexity of the invention. Most individuals have relatively simple
disclosures, although there are exceptions, particularly in the chemical,
medical, computer and biological fields.
Most companies have more sophisticated disclosures such that the
minimums are usually exceeded significantly. |
|||
MINIMUM CHARGES FOR COPYRIGHT LAW WORK
|
DESCRIPTION |
ATTORNEY |
TOTAL |
|
|
Electronically (paperless) prepare and
electronically file an application, when all information complete and
received ready for filing, and forward filing particulars to you, and forward
certificate to you Same but with paper filing |
150* $175* |
35 $45 |
185* $220* |
|
Electronically prepare and file
application from information supplied, including docketing and forwarding
filing particulars and certificate to you Same but with paper filing |
225* $250 |
35 $45 |
$250* $295 |
|
Record assignment or other document of
title change (Prep of recordal cover sheet form) Preparation of most other copyright
recordings is same as for assignment |
150 |
40 |
190 |
* Indicates that hourly rate applies to items over minimum.