How Much Does A Patent Cost In Major Countries?

January 13, 2023

A patent is an exclusive right awarded for an invention to the applicant for a limited period of time. The process of obtaining a patent requires a set of procedures to be followed and these procedures involved some costs associated with it. So, it is crucial to stay updated about the costs that are associated to get a patent, as a considerable amount is required to get the patent granted.

The estimation of patent costs is a cumbersome process, as it depends on the technology involved in the particular patent. Also, the cost of obtaining a patent depends on the type of patent (utility patent, design patent, or plant patent), and taking that into account, below is a broad cost estimation involved in obtaining a patent in major countries such as the United States, Europe, China, Australia, Japan, and India.

There are typically four types of costs associated with getting a patent in different countries:

Filing Fee (Patent Office Expenses)
Legal Fee (Expenses of Patent Attorney)
Drafting & Illustration Fee
Maintenance Fee

United States

The rough estimate of the filing cost in the US ranges between $8000 – $15000, and sometimes more. Utility patents and design patents are discussed separately to provide a clearer picture of the costs associated with getting a patent.

Utility Patent: In the US, based on the nature of an invention such as a basic invention (e.g. an electric switch), a less complex invention (e.g. the handheld drilling machine), or an extraordinarily complex invention (e.g. networking systems), the cost of getting a patent varies as described in the table below:

Nature of invention	Associated Cost	Patent Search Cost (Optional)
Basic	$5000-$7500	$800-$1200
Simple	$7500-$8500	$800-$1200
Less Complex	$8500-$10500	$1200-$1500
Moderately Complex	$10500-$12500	$1500-$1750
Relatively Complex	$12500-$14500	$1750-$2000
Extraordinary Complex	$14500-$16000	$2000-$2450
Software Related	More than $16000	$2450-$3000

The Maintenance fees for a utility patent are listed below which vary on the size of the entity:

Year	Micro Entity Fee (USD)	Small Entity Fee (USD)	Large Entity Fee (USD)
Due at 3.5 years	400	800	2000
Due at 7.5 years	752	1504	3760
Due at 11.5 years	1540	3080	7700

Design Patent: The filing fee for a design patent depends on the type of entity that is filing the patent. Entities are typically divided into three categories: micro-entity, small entity, and large entity. However, the typical expense would range between $2000-$3500.

Australia

The cost of obtaining a utility patent and design patent in Australia is disclosed below:

Utility Patent: The fees involved in obtaining a patent in Australia include fees related to application filing, examination, and acceptance.

Application Fee: The application fee varies depending on the type of application you are filing.

Provisional Application – A minimum of $110 is required to file a provisional application. Additionally, an optional international patent search can be conducted which costs nearly $950.
Non-Provisional Application (Standard Patent Application) – A minimum of $370 is required to file a standard patent application.
Additionally, the provisional and non-provisional application filing fees rise to $210 and $570, respectively, if the application is sent via postal service.

Examination Fee: The cost of the examination varies according to the nature of the invention, but generally starts at a minimum of $490.

Acceptance Fee: Once the application goes through the examination stage, an acceptance fee needs to be paid which is near to $250.

Maintenance Fee: The cost of maintenance of a patent in Australia is listed below:

Year	Fee ($)
4th Year	300
6th Year	315
7th Year	335
8th Year	360
9th Year	390
10th Year	425
11th Year	490
12th Year	585
13th Year	710
14th Year	865
15th Year	1050
16th Year	1280
17th Year	1555
18th Year	1875
19th Year	2240
20th Year	2650

Design Patent: A minimum of $250 is required to register a design patent in Australia. Apart from this, $420 costs an examination fee to get the design examined.

Additionally, a renewal fee is applicable to renew the design which costs a minimum of $400.

Europe

Below is a breakdown of how much it costs to get a utility patent and a design patent in Europe:

Utility Patent: The cost of obtaining a patent in Europe includes the European Patent Office grant procedure fee, attorney fee, validation fee, and maintenance & renewal charges. The total cumulative fee from filing till the patent grant costs approximately £19000.
The detailed costs involved in obtaining a European patent are listed below:

Drafting Fee: The fee for drafting a patent range between £3000-£5500. More complex inventions may cost more.
Filing Fee: The cost of filing a patent at EPO costs nearly £1000.
Examination Fee: £1700 is required as the examination fee.
Designation Fee: A total of 38 states are included and it costs nearly £610 as the designation fee.
Renewal/Maintenance Fee: The cost of maintenance of a utility patent in Europe is listed below:

Year (Every Year)	Fee (£)	Additional Fee (£)
3rd Year	505	252.5
4th Year	630	315
6th Year	1125	440
7th Year	1245	562.5
8th Year	1370	622.5
9th Year	1495	685
10th – 20th Year	1690	845

Apart from these fees, validation, prosecution, and grants may also apply for obtaining a patent.

Design Patent: The fee to register a design patent is at least £350-£700. Additionally, renewal and ongoing management of design also account for other fees.

China

The cost of obtaining an invention patent, utility model, and design patent in China is disclosed below:

In China, there are several fees associated with obtaining a patent, including filing fees, examination fees (only for invention patents), registration fees, and government annual fees. A legal fee is also applicable in addition to all these expenses which is close to 3200 RMB in cost. Further, the following three patent categories can be acquired in China:
Invention Patent:

Filing Fee – The filing fee for an invention patent is 900 RMB.

Examination Fee – The fee for the examination of an invention patent is 1000 RMB.
Registration Fee – The registration fee for an invention patent is 200 RMB.
Government/Maintenance Fee (Annual) –

Year (Every Year)	Fee (RMB)
1-3 Years	900
4-6 Years	1200
7-9 Years	2000
10-12 Years	4000
13-15 Years	6000
16-20 Years	8000

Utility Model & Design Patent:

Filing Fee – The fee for filing a utility model/design patent is 500 RMB.
Registration Fee – The registration fee for a utility model/design patent is 150 RMB.
Government/Maintenance Fees –

Year (Every Year)	Fee (RMB)
1-3 Years	600
4-5 Years	900
6-8 Years	1200
9-10 Years	2000

Japan

Below is the information regarding the costs associated to get a utility patent, a utility model patent, and a design patent in Japan:

There are two types of fees involved in obtaining a patent in Japan i.e., attorney fee and patent office fee, also known as an official fee.

Utility Patent:

Filing Fee – The filing fee for a utility patent in Japan includes the patent office fee and attorney fee. The patent office fee is ¥14000, whereas the attorney fee is ¥1,00,000.
Examination Fee – For examination, the patent office fee is ¥1,38,000, and the attorney fee is ¥14000.
Annual/Maintenance Fee –

Year (Every Year)	Official Fee (¥)
1-3 Years	4,300
4-6 Years	10,300
7-9 Years	24,800
10-25 Years	59,400

Utility Model:

Filing Fee – The patent office fee is ¥14000 for filing a utility model in Japan, whereas the attorney fee is ¥1,00,000.
Registrability Report Fee – The registrability report fee for a JP utility model is ¥42,000.
Annual/Maintenance Fee –

Year (Every Year)	Official Fee (¥)
1-3 Years	2,100
4-6 Years	6,100
7-10 Years	18,100

Design Patent:

Filing Fee – The patent office fee for filing a design patent is ¥16000, whereas the attorney fee is ¥1,00,000.
Annual/ Maintenance Fee –

Year (Every Year)	Official Fee (¥)
1-3 Years	8,500
4-25 Years	16,900

India

The following is a list of the main expenses related to obtaining a utility patent and design patent in India:

Utility Patent:

Filing Fee – The filing fee of a utility patent includes an official fee that ranges between ₹1600 – 8000. Specifically, ₹1600, ₹4000, and ₹8000 for micro entity or individual, small entity, and large entity respectively. Apart from the official fee, an attorney fee is required to file the patent which costs between ₹4000 – ₹15000.

Examination Fee – The examination fee includes an official fee that ranges between ₹4000 – ₹20000 and an attorney fee that ranges between ₹4000 – ₹15000.
Maintenance Fee – The maintenance fee for a patent in India is tabulated below:

Year	Small Entity Fee (₹)	Standard Fee (₹)
3rd Year	800-2000	4000
4th Year	800-2000	4000
6th Year	800-2000	4000
7th Year	800-2000	4000
8th Year	2400-6000	12000
9th Year	2400-6000	12000
10th Year	2400-6000	12000
11th Year	2400-6000	12000
12th Year	4800-12000	24000
13th Year	4800-12000	24000
14th Year	4800-12000	24000
15th Year	4800-12000	24000
16th Year	4800-12000	24000
17th Year	8000-20000	40000
18th Year	8000-20000	40000
19th Year	8000-20000	40000
20th Year	8000-20000	40000

Apart from these fees, additional attorney fees for responding to examination reports, hearings, and grants may also be applicable.

Design Patent:

The filing fee for a design patent in India is ₹10,000, whereas a renewal fee of ₹3000 is applicable after a certain period of time.

All in all, we got an idea of how much it costs to obtain a patent in major jurisdictions (US, Australia, Europe, China, Japan & India) and it can be said that different jurisdictions have different costs involved in obtaining a patent. Further, obtaining a patent requires a good amount of funds. Having said that, it is always advisable to contact a leading IP firm that can assist in obtaining the patent with optimum costs.

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