Information about patent search costs, free patent searches and fee-based patent searches
$1,500 and $2,000. “Law firms generally charge between $1,500 and $2,000 to search for similar patents to ensure a new patent is worth pursuing.” (Susan Gvozdas, “Camp Hill, Pa., couple's invention stocks shelves at Lowe's, Home Depot,” Patriot-News - Harrisburg, PA - August 20, 2006)
$1000. Cost of an in-depth patent search using a patent search service. “[An inventor’s] idea or product may have been on the market before but at a prohibitive price, or it may be patented under another use. If nothing shows up [when you use the free U.S. patent office patent search database], it may be time to hire a patent attorney or patent search firm for an initial cost of about $1,000 for a more in-depth search.” (Joyce Smith, Business Columnist, “Seeing your invention through: Entrepreneur week helps highlight some success stories of those who dream big,” Kansas City Star, February 27, 2007)
Do you have questions or concerns about conducting patent searches on your own? If you do, you may wish to contact Inventors Workshop International (IWI). IWI is one of the nation's oldest nonprofit inventor help organizations. It has been helping inventors patent inventions for more than 35 years. The organization help inventors find patent lawyers or patent agents and provides personal mentoring and one-on-one counseling assistance. IWI has a special PatentSaver program for member inventors to help save money on the costs of patenting inventions. You can contact Inventors Workshop by email, by phone (805-879-1729) or visit Patent-Help-for-Inventors.org.
$500. Typical fee charged for a professional patent search. “Most companies pay $500 or more to commission a professional search of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) records, to see if anyone has patented a similar idea.” (Len Strazewski, “Five vital steps in patent process,” Crain's Chicago Business, July 8, 2002)
$300 - $800. Cost of a patent search conducted by a patent attorney. “If you hire a patent attorney, the cost of a search of U.S. patents only is generally between 300 and 800 dollars. If you conduct a patent search yourself, it’s free for the asking.” (Pamela Riddle Bird, PhD, Founder and CEO of Innovative Product Technologies, Inc. and author of Inventing for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2004, p. 32)
$200 - $300. “The cost of a utility patent search in the Washington D.C., area runs between $200 and $300.” (Richard C. Levy, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cashing in on Your Inventions, The Penguin Group USA Inc., New York, 2002, 7th printing, p. 148)
$25 - $120. Cost of a monthly patent search training class offered by the U.S. patent office. “The USPTO offers monthly training for its EAST, WEST, and X-Search systems. A prepaid fee of $25 reserves you a seat in a class and includes one set of training materials. …Off-schedule, three-hour personal training sessions are available at the USPTO for a fee of $120. Classes take place at the USPTO Public Training Facility, Arlington, Virginia, with hands-on workstation access. For information call 703-308-3040.” ((Richard C. Levy, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cashing in on Your Inventions, The Penguin Group USA Inc., New York, 2002, 7th printing, p. 146)
Free patent searches. “[Before investing a lot of time and money, prospective] inventors should search the free [patent search] database at the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Web site [which you can find at www.uspto.gov/patft].” (Joyce Smith, Business Columnist, “Seeing your invention through: Entrepreneur week helps highlight some success stories of those who dream big,” Kansas City Star, February 27, 2007)
Free patent searches. You can also perform free patent searches atGoogle patent seaches.
