U.S. NATIONAL APPLICATION FOR PCT APPLICANTS

National Phase Filing in United States. Attorney Louis Ventre, Jr. can represent you in filing a United States national application based on a PCT application.   Attorney Louis Ventre, Jr. can prepare the filing fee transmittal paper, a transmittal document identifying the application as a national stage application, a power of attorney (which you must sign), a copy of the published international application and the translation (if not in English), and an oath or declaration (which you must sign).

National Phase Attorney Fees – Small Entity. Attorney Louis Ventre, Jr. offers hourly or fixed fee services. For micro-entities and most small entities, Attorney Louis Ventre, Jr.  low cost fixed-fee option ($1200 + government filing fees), includes preparation of the above documents and filing your application as it was originally filed and translated.  When foreign language applications are involved, Attorney Louis Ventre, Jr. will review the claims for form and obvious mistranslations without additional cost. If extensive corrections are needed, the applicant will be advised and an estimate of costs provided (see two paragraphs below). Large entity fees are $1400 + government filing fees. Minimum government filing fees for a small entity when the U.S. was not the International Search Authority are $830, effective 01-OCT-2020.

National Phase Attorney Fees – Urgent Last Minute Service. If you require last minute priority service above all other clients because of an impending loss of rights, fees can rise to $1,800. This fee is assessed when there is less than 30 days to the filing deadline. The Law Firm of Louis Ventre, Jr. urges you to act with not less than 5 days before expiration of your allowable filing date.

National Phase Attorney Fees – Least Cost Pre-Filing Additional Services. For an additional charge of $1,100, Attorney Louis Ventre, Jr. will include a preliminary amendment to delete multiple-dependent claims and conform the grammar to U.S. practice.

For foreign language patent applications, more editing may be required and this may incur an additional charge provided upon review of the application. This service is recommended because foreign drafted patent applications often require revision to obtain the full level of protection for the invention entitled to the inventor, to enhance clarity of the write-up, to ensure that the description is legally enabling and to employ claim scope terminology utilized in the United States for the maximum coverage.   A preliminary amendment can provide more options for responding to the patent office in the future.  Poorly drafted original claims can limit an applicant to only one opportunity to amend by right during prosecution in the event that the second U.S. Patent Office Action on the merits is made final.

National Phase Attorney Fees – Other Services & Patent Prosecution.  Attorney Louis Ventre, Jr.’s  hourly rate for most small entities is $250 per hour.

National Phase — Costs.  Costs, for example translation and filing fees, are billed to you without overhead additions.  This Law Firm does not add to third party bills. Foreign currency conversions, charge card fees and bank fees will be added to your bill.

U.S. Government initial filing costs for a small entity vary from a minimum of $184 to $860 (as of 01-MAR-2023), depending upon which agency did the search, prepared the report and found on patentability. Government fees may be much more if there are multiple dependent claims, claims in excess of 20, more than 3 independent claims, or more than 100 pages in the application.

U.S. Government initial filing costs for a micro-entity, the costs vary from $92 to $204 (as of 01-MAR-2023), depending upon which agency did the search, prepared the report and found on patentability. Government fees may be much more if there are multiple dependent claims, claims in excess of 20, more than 3 independent claims, or more than 100 pages in the application.

U.S. Government initial filing costs for a large entity should be expected to be twice as much as for a small entity.

Deadline Dates. The filing of a U.S. national stage application is due not later than the expiration of 30 months from the priority date.

PCT EXPLANATION BREAKOUT

LAYOUT. The PCT is a complex subject are that requires more than one page of explanation.  The PCT discussion is on 5 web pages:

• pct — explains what the PCT process is and some reasons for filing.
• pctexplain — explains how the PCT process works.
• pctstrategy — explains potential PCT filing strategies to consider.
• pctcosts — explains the costs of various PCT filings.
• pctnat — explains the U.S. National Stage of the PCT process. You are on this page now.