It is important to know exactly how much is a provisional patent cost for your small business idea before starting off.
Every good and successful business today started from one simple idea!
Getting a provisional patent for your small business idea goes a long way in holding and preventing someone else from jumping ahead of you and taking such idea. It is a lower-cost way of getting a patent for your small business idea.
A provisional patent can also serve as a sustainable small cash flow management technique in the sense that, a standard United States utility patent will cost you between $8,000 and $18,000 to get (within a timeframe of one to three years). Now, it it would be so unwise to go out spending up that kind of amount on a patent when there are still much work to be done in setting up the business.
A provisional patent serves basically as a time-holder!
It states out the idea that you wish to file a patent for and sets your spot in-line, protecting your small business idea for a period of 12 months, which after you can then file a real patent that can protect your product or idea.
Given this 12 months time frame, your business idea is kept safe from others trying to do the same thing as you, which in turn gives you enough time to raise up the necessary capital needed to file a real patent. But basically, all these can’t be achieved if you have no clue of how much is a provisional patent cost for a small business idea.
How Much is a Provisional Patent Cost for a Small Business idea?
Getting a provisional patent in the United States in 2021 will cost you just about $250 to file. Though, this may cost way you way more if you decide to make use of a patent attorney.
But if you’d rather work with a patent attorney at the beginning stage of getting your small business idea patent, do ensure not to confuse between a patent lawyer (attorney) and a patent agent.
You’d actually spend more working with a patent agent than an attorney because once the agent is done with his work, you’d still have to go meet a patent lawyer and pay all necessary legal fees to complete the rest of the patenting process.
Basically, the following steps listed below will give you a good-enough clue of how much is a provisional patent cost for a small business idea:
- Filing a provisional patent cost, including legal fees (attorney fees) – Between $5,000 and $9,000
- Filing a provisional patent cost, excluding legal fees – Between $65 and $250
- Filing a provisional patent cost, excluding legal fees and including software assistance – Between $164 and $349
This can be further broken down in the table as seen below:
How Much is a Provisional Patent Cost
| Filing Fee ($) | Legal Fee ($) | Software Fee ($) |
| 65 – 250 | 5,000 – 9,000 | 99 |
| (Required) | (Not Necessary) | (Not Necessary) |
So basically, if you decide to file your provisional patent by yourself, it will cost you between $65 and $250. In the process of determining how much is a provisional patent cost for your small business idea, it’s always good to know if your business idea can be categorized as a micro-entity or small entity.
Filing Fee
Businesses categorized as micro-entities usually attract a 75% discount on the total filing fee for the provisional patent. Thus, the resulting $65 filing fee for a provisional patent fee for micro-entity businesses.
For your business to qualify as a micro-entity, it must meet all the following criteria:
- Qualify as a United States Patent and Trademark Office-defined small entity.
- Not have a total income that’s above thrice the average household income in the previous year from when the filing fee(s) is paid.
- Not be included on more than four previously filed patent applications.
- Not be delegated with the task of assigning, granting, or conveying ownership or a license to another entity that doesn’t meet similar requirements for income as the idea owner.
Thus, a micro-entity status best suits an independent small business idealist, and anything other than this falls under a small-entity status.
Small entities also get a 50% reduction in provisional patent filing fees, thus costing about $125 to completely file a provisional patent for a small entity business idea.
So, just keep in mind when trying to find out how much is a provisional patent cost for my small business idea that – for a small-entity, it’d cost you about $125, and for a micro-entity, everything should cost you just about $65.
Large entities provisional patent fees go as high as $250 to get.
Legal Fees
As discussed earlier, you are not required by law to work with a lawyer when filing for a provisional patent – it is totally out of your own personal jurisdiction.
Although, a patent attorney can come in really handy in explaining the necessary steps in structuring your patent application request, but is this something really worth spending $5,000 to $9,000 for?
So, in determining how much is a provisional patent cost for your small business idea, you can actually save your business some extra money by cutting down on legal fees.
Software Fee
Patent Wizard is actually one good software that will help you cutdown on lawyer fees. The software is easy to use and will help you write like a professional patent attorney.
The best part?
It only costs $99 yearly.
Conclusion
The major factors in play in determining how much is a provisional patent cost is – is your business idea considered as a small-entity or micro-entity. Once you are able to properly determine this, getting a provisional patent shouldn’t cost you anything more than a $100.
Now I’d Love to Hear from You:
- Do you now know how much is a provisional patent cost?
- What other steps can small business owners take in securing their business idea, and still saving money while doing it?
Let us know by leaving a comment below!
