Please go to the costs & fees page for an explanation of what the costs of patent preparation and filing include. If Bruce & McCoy agrees to make a cost estimate for preparing and filing a patent application, it will consist of the following services: the cost for services in attorney time in preparing the patent specification and claims, supervision of preparation of the drawings, and supervision of the preparation of the filing documents including the letter of transmittal, inventor's declaration, the information disclosure statement, if one is appropriate, and the assignment form and an assignment transmittal cover letter if an assignment of the invention is to be made.

The cost estimate will also include a statement of estimated patent draftsmen fees, the Patent Office filing fees, the Patent Office recording fees, and the miscellaneous fees for copying and mailing. An applicant must file by United States Express Mail to receive the mailing date as a filing date.

The cost estimate only covers the expenses for preparation and filing of the application in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPT0). It does not cover the cost of subsequent prosecution expenses in responding to an Official Action from the USPT0, which can be substantial, and they are explained in the costs & fees page.

There is no assurance that a patent will be issued by the USPT0. It is the job of the Patent Office examiners to find prior art and to reject patent applications that are not novel. All examiners are skilled in the art which they examine, and they usually are aware of considerable relevant prior art in their field. They continually search for it with each application they handle, and there is a huge amount of prior art on record as a result of the millions of U.S. and foreign patents which have issued. It is therefore usually necessary to respond to a Patent Office Official Action and to try to overcome a rejection of the application based on prior art by amending the claims and distinguishing the invention from the cited prior art references. The response usually involves substantial additional expense. See costs & fees page.

If the application is allowed, there is an issue fee to be paid to the Patent Office and increasing maintenance fees due on irregular anniversary dates of the patent issue date. See costs & fees page.