Patent Application Filing Fees

• According to the application, the basic application fee if applied after December is $330. Otherwise, if it is a small entity, it would be $165. For electronic filing for small entities, $82. If the application was filed before December, the fee is $850 or $425 for a small entity.
  
  

Prosecution Fees

• Once the application is filed, the inventor will have to go before the U.S Patent and Trademark advisory. In most cases, the action issued by the advisory will require the amendment to the application to be prepared, which generally costs $800 to $2,000 in attorney fees, according to the Basic Patents website.
  
  

Maintenance Fees

• The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office requires that a maintenance fee is paid to upkeep the invention. After 3 1/2 years, the inventor is required to pay $980 or $490 for small entities. After 7 1/2 years, $2,480 or $1,240 for small entities. Due after 11 years is $4,110 or $2,055 for small entities.
  
  

Considerations

• According to the Basic Patents website, an inventor can expect to spend another $10,000 per foreign country to protect an invention outside the United States.