Patent Application Cost Estimator

How Patent Costs Are Estimated

Patent costs are not a single fee. They accumulate across filing, examination, prosecution and maintenance, and the total depends on patent type, jurisdiction, complexity and whether you use an attorney.

USPTO fees for a utility patent (2024, large entity):

Note that the first three are billed together, which is why you will often see a utility filing quoted as a single $1,820. Adding search and examination on top of that figure double-counts them.

Attorney work sits on top and is usually the larger number: $1,500–$3,000 for a provisional, $8,000–$15,000 to draft and file a non-provisional, and $2,000–$5,000 to argue it through examination. Those are ranges to check a quote against, which is why the calculator has you type in the figure you were actually quoted rather than assuming one. Firm rates vary enormously by city and by technology area, and a software case and a biotech case are not the same job.

Entity discounts. USPTO fees drop by 60% for a small entity (under 500 employees) and 80% for a micro entity. Micro status needs the small-entity test plus a gross income under roughly three times the median household income, a figure the USPTO republishes each year, and you must not be named on more than four previously filed applications. The discount applies to filing, examination, issue and maintenance alike, so it compounds over the life of the patent.

Maintenance fees (U.S. utility patents):

These are due at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years after grant.

Large entity: $2,000, then $3,760, then $7,700, so $13,460 over the life of the patent.

Apply the entity discount and those become:

You will still see $1,800 and $3,700 quoted for the small-entity 7.5 and 11.5 year fees in older write-ups. Those were correct when the small-entity discount was 50%, which it stopped being at the end of 2022. Any source still printing them has not been updated since.

Missing one of the three is fatal rather than expensive: the patent lapses, whatever you spent getting it, and there is only a limited window to revive it.

International filing (PCT route):

Filing a PCT application to protect your invention internationally costs:

~$4,000–$5,000 in PCT fees + $1,500–$5,000 per country for national phase entry

Common targets are the EU via the EPO, plus Japan, Canada, Australia and China. Each one adds $2,000 to $8,000.

Estimation formula:

Total 20-year patent cost = Filing + Prosecution + Issue + Maintenance fees

For a U.S. small entity utility patent with attorney assistance, budget $15,000–$30,000 over the patent’s lifetime.