Burdlaw

Burdlaw.com

STANDARD SCHEDULE OF TYPICAL ATTORNEY CHARGES AND GOVERNMENT FEES

FOR

USA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW MATTERS

October 1, 2008 - September 30, 2009

Bruce E. Burdick, JD

THE BURDICK LAW FIRM

www.burdlaw.com

THE BURDICK LAW FIRM

3656 Western Ave.

Alton, IL 62002-3156 USA

1+ (618) 462-3450

Fax: 1+ (618) 208-1712

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. This fee schedule is intended to assist you in estimating 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 slightly on October 1 of each year by about 3%. US Government fees for patents and trademarks change at least every year on about October 1, so many US attorneys (me included) adjust their intellectual property schedules around that time to reflect new Government fees so this schedule has a listed window of validity. If you have any doubt as to the accuracy of a 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).

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, low priced or 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.

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 higher if the legal issues are unusual and/or technology issues are more complex than minimum.

4. --- Most US Firms will be happy to freely discuss fees and 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.

SCHEDULE OF STANDARD MINIMUM CHARGES FOR TRADEMARKS

Hourly Rate: Attorneys $155 - $350 / hr. + expenses

Paralegals $ 60 - $ 100 / hr. + expenses

DESCRIPTION	ATTORNEY FEES US $	OFFICIAL FEES US $	TOTAL FEES US $
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 or Statement of Use (per class)	150	100	250
Request Extension of Time to File Statement of Use	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 opposition (minimum)	210/hr		210/hr
Affidavit of Continuing Use (§8 Affidavit) - per class	150	100	250
Affidavit of Incontestability (§15 Affidavit) - per class	150	200	350
Affidavit of Continuing Use/Incontestability (§8 & §15 Combined Affidavit) - per class	250 one class, plus 150 each additional class	300	550 one class plus 450 each additional class
Combined Renewal and Affidavit of Continuing Use (§9 Renewal and §8 Affidavit) - per class	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 an opposition	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 (Madrid)	150	40	190
Recordal of merger or change of name of trademark owner	150	40	190
Obtaining priority certificates of trademarks from Trademark Office	75	30	105
Filing an administrative (ex parte) appeal against a refusal	420*	100	520
Taking over prosecution of a trademark application (review of case & recording new power of attorney)	210		210
Notice of Opposition (per class)	500	300	800
Petition for Cancellation (per class)	500	300	800
Madrid Protocol Application	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.

SCHEDULE OF STANDARD MINIMUM CHARGES FOR PATENT LAW WORK

Hourly Rate: Attorneys $150-350 / hr. + expenses

Paralegals $ 60 - $ 120 / hr. + expenses

DESCRIPTION	ATTORNEY FEES US $	OFFICIAL FEES US $	TOTAL FEES US $
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 from Spanish, French or German into English, per 100 English words	15		15
Formal drawings, per sheet By duplication, per sheet	120 10		120 10
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: a) First month (large/small entity) b) Second month (large/small entity) c) Third month (large/small entity)	100 100 100	110 / 55 430/ 215 980 / 490	210 / 155 530/315 1080/540
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, and airmail certificate	300	1,370/675	1,670 / 975
1st Maintenance (large/small) 2nd Maintenance (large/small) 3rd Maintenance (large/small)	125 125 125	940/470 2150/1075 3320/1660	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 steps taken at the Patent Office	75		75
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.

SCHEDULE OF STANDARD MINIMUM CHARGES FOR DESIGN PATENTS

Hourly Rate: Attorneys $150 - $350 / hr. + expenses

Paralegals $ 60 - $ 120/ hr. + expenses

DESCRIPTION	ATTORNEY FEES US $	OFFICIAL FEES US $	TOTAL FEES US $
Filing a Design Patent application	650	175/350	825/1000
Responding to Official Action (typical)	300		300
Formal drawings, per sheet - By duplication, per sheet Searches per class (minimum)	100 10 250	200	100 10 450
Claiming Priority '	50		50
Final steps of prosecution, processing details of issued design and airmailing certificate	260	440/220	700/480
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 steps taken at the Patent Office	75		75

SCHEDULE OF STANDARD MINIMUM CHARGES FOR PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATIONS

Hourly Rate: Attorneys $150 - $350 / hr. + expenses
Paralegals $ 60 - $ 120 / hr. + expenses '

DESCRIPTION	ATTORNEY FEES US $	OFFICIAL FEES US $	TOTAL FEES US $
Prepare and file application using high quality client disclosure (small/large entity)	500*	110/220	610/720*
Prepare and file application using sparse disclosure (small/large entity)	2500*	110/220	2610/2720*
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.

SCHEDULE OF STANDARD MINIMUM CHARGES FOR COPYRIGHT LAW WORK

Hourly Rate: Attorneys $155 - $275 / hr. + expenses

Paralegals $ 60 - $ 90/ hr. + expenses

DESCRIPTION

ATTORNEY
FEES
US $

OFFICIAL
FEES
US $

TOTAL
FEES
US $

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*

$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

$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

190

* Indicates that hourly rate applies to items over minimum.