FAQ

The Patent Office classifies patent applications into one of three entity types or sizes: Micro Entities, Small Entities, and Large Entities. The government fees, and therefore our flat fees, depend on the entity type classification.

To establish the correct entity size for the parties associated with a patent application, the circumstances of the inventors, owners, and licensees of a patent application are considered. The relevant circumstances are summarized below. It is important to specify the correct entity type for your patent application because a court may deem a patent invalid based on an applicant claiming an incorrect entity size.

Micro Entity Qualifications

• Each inventor for the present patent application has not been named as an inventor on more than four nonprovisional patent applications.
• Each inventor or owner of the patent rights for the present patent application reported less than approximately $206,109 in gross income on his or her tax return in the most recent preceding calendar year.
  • Where an inventor files a joint tax return with his or her spouse, only the portion of the gross income on the joint return attributed to the inventor would be compared to the Micro Entity income limit, i.e., not the combined joint income of both spouses.
  • The income limit referenced above was current as of January 4, 2021, but is updated annually and may now be out of date. The current income limit is available at www.uspto.gov/patent/laws-and-regulations/micro-entity-status-gross-income-limit.
• The inventor or owner of the patent rights has fewer than 500 employees and is not presently licensing (or obligated to license) the patent rights to a company with more than 500 employees.

Small Entity Qualifications

• There are no limits on the number of prior patent applications.
• There are no income limits.
• The inventor or owner of the patent rights has fewer than 500 employees and is not presently licensing (or obligated to license) the patent rights to a company with more than 500 employees.

Large Entity Qualifications

• There are no limits on the number of prior patent applications.
• There are no income limits.
• The inventor or owner of the patent rights has 500 or more employees or is presently licensing (or obligated to license) the patent rights to a company with more than 500 employees.
   

In the most straightforward case, obtaining a patent begins by filing a patent application, which the Patent Office examines for patent eligibility. After making any necessary amendments, the Patent Office will grant a patent if the invention is eligible for patent protection.

The full patent process can involve considerable complexity. Our registered patent attorneys will guide your application through each stage of the process. Our method for obtaining patents is designed to be efficient and cost-effective. We make a point to keep you informed throughout the process.

We often recommend filing a provisional patent application if you primarily want to "test the waters" for market demand for your invention before investing in a full nonprovisional patent application. Our provisional patent applications provide a low cost way for you to establish priority to your invention and to preserve your existing eligibility for patent protection.

We often recommend proceeding straight to a nonprovisional patent application when you know you intend to fully pursue an enforceable patent and/or when you suspect a competitor may be planning to use your invention. If you definitely intend to pursue a patent, it is most cost-effective most expedient to file a nonprovisional patent application directly.

Filing a provisional application establishes a priority date and patent pending status, which allows you more time to refine the invention and to perform patentability searches. A provisional application helps avoid an invention becoming ineligible for patent protection due to statutory bars. After filing a provisional patent application, you have safeguards in place to test demand for your invention; present their invention to investors; and/or to begin generating revenue from your invention.

A nonprovisional patent application is the mechanism to obtain an enforceable utility patent. If you want patent protection as fast as possible, filing a nonprovisional patent application is the way to go. Unlike provisional patent applications, nonprovisional patent applications will generally be published by the Patent Office. A published patent application can help you secure investments in an invention and puts your competitors on notice of pending patent rights.

On our end, we target a 2-week turnaround time for provisional patent applications and a 3-week turnaround time for nonprovisional patent applications. The Patent Office timing data currently suggests that most new applications will be examined in about 24 months and final decisions will be made in about 36 months. Our attorneys can speed up the process in certain instances.