You think you have found the ideal partner. You want to know if this is the right partner before you invest too much time, money, and other resources in the alliance. You have assembled the partnering team. You are ready to try the initial activity. Review the steps and tools in previous articles for starting the initial activity. You can build quality into the process by using the Plan–Do–Check–Act cycle. This can be accomplished by listing the tasks that need to occur in the Initiate stage below each step of the cycle. On the following pages are examples of what to do in each step. You may want to use these examples as is or modify them to meet your particular objectives. Either way, the process will help you accomplish the task in less time and with greater efficiency and higher quality.
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How do you determine what it will cost if you wish to hire a professional for your utility patent? We have obtained some ballpark ranges from several patent professionals to give you a feel for what your patent might cost. The cost of obtaining a good, strong utility patent can have a wide range, based on such variables as the complexity of the invention itself, the amount of prior art involved, and the number and complexity of the Office Action responses required. Each time you receive a letter from the patent office, taking some official action on your application, this is referred to as an Office Action. Obviously, if your invention is highly technical, it will require more of the patent professional’s time to write the application. If there are a large number of similar products or patents, it will likewise require more work to prepare the patent application. And, when the patent examiner returns the application for changes in the claims, there is a charge each time for handling the response.
Independent inventors, small businesses and non-profit organizations are entitled to what is known as small entity status. This qualifies you for reduced filing and maintenance fees, usually half of the cost for large entities.