What will it cost?

Unfortunately we can't quote a fixed figure for the cost of obtaining patent protection.  It depends on so many factors, including the nature and technical complexity of your invention, how close it is to existing ideas in its field and whether patent offices raise objections against your patent application.

However as a very rough ball park figure you can expect to pay between £2,500 and £5,000 to have a patent attorney prepare and file a UK patent application for you.  To file a "PCT" application 12 months later (this covers most of the major industrial countries) typically costs from £2,500 upwards, depending on the extent to which the application needs updating at that stage.

To get your UK patent application granted could cost of the order of £1,000-£2,000 spread over 2 to 4 years.  To get a patent granted in any other country might range from £1,500-£2,500 for some English-speaking countries to £4,000 or so for a country like Japan where translations are needed and a very strict examination is carried out.  These are very much "ball park" figures; there are so many factors which can affect the cost in any particular case.  Again these overseas costs will be spread over a number of years, which is what it typically takes to get patents granted in several different countries.

We can give you more precise cost indications for individual cases, and will always warn you in advance when further costs are likely to arise.

Please note that VAT is chargeable on all our work, except for official UK Intellectual Property Office or European Patent Office fees.