Q: Have an idea for an athletic footwear design that I believe is unique and functional. Has it been patented?
How much should I plan on spending to learn if this idea is, in fact, unique? Whom should I contact? Patent attorneys? How much money should I anticipate spending to create a patent as to protect my idea before I present it to major manufacturers?
A:
A patent attorney can do a patentability search to determine if your fotware is novel and non-obvious. If the search shows that your footware design is novel, the patent attorney should prepare and file a patent application for your invention. Once the application is filed, you may talk to potential investors and manufacturers. You should be prepared to pay the filing fees that the United States Patent and Trademark Office charges plus attorney fees for the patentability search and the preparation of the application.
Please contact me if you have any additional questions. I can of course assist you with the whole process.
Liliana Di Nola-Baron, J.D., Ph.D.
Attorney at Law
DiNolaIP.com
Liliana@dinolaip.com
202-734-0253
A:
Here is an article about setting a patent budget: https://patentxp.com/patent-budget-2/
Most patent applicants will pay somewhere between $15k-$40k per utility patent application. That amount will be paid over the 2-4 years the application is pending with periodic government fees due after the patent issues.
For a utility patent application, expect to spend around $7k-15k for the initial US filing and then an additional $5k-7k or so per year that the application is pending before the USPTO. Design patent applications and provisional patent applications are usually less expensive.
Contact a patent attorney or intellectual property attorney who is licensed to practice US patent law to get started.
Stephen J. Kontos IP Attorney / Owner
PatentXP PLLC Intellectual Property Law Firm
https://patentxp.com
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