One of the most common misconceptions that I run into is the idea that it takes many years to get a patent application issued as a US patent. This is false.
The truth is: it CAN take years for a patent application to issue as a US Patent. However, you CAN choose to have your patent application issue as a U.S. Patent in as little as a few months.
How quickly a patent application can issue as a US patent critically depends upon which filing strategy you use and how quickly you can reach agreement with a US patent examiner.
If you choose to file a regular priority US non-provisional utility patent application, then the United States Patent Trademark Office (USPTO) will examine your patent application for patentability in an average of 16 to 18 months. This average means that your patent application stands little or no chance of being allowed in less than a year and a half.
But what if you are ready to start selling right now?!?
Did you know that you can pay to go to the front of the line?
That’s right! You can choose to file a PRIORITIZED non-provisional patent application that the USPTO will examine on the merits in an average of 2-3 months!
It works just like prioritized shipping! Your package goes to the same place, it just gets there a lot faster. The cost for filing a prioritized patent application at the time of this posting depends on the size of your business. It requires paying an extra governmental fee of about $1,000 for a micro entity (think independent, first-time inventors), $2,000 for a small entity (less than 500 employees), or $4,000 for a regular size entity.
Once your patent application is being examined for patentability, it’s just a matter of how quickly you and the examiner can reach an agreement. In the last two years, I’ve actually had two different inventors obtain U.S. Patents within about 6 months of filing. We accomplished this by filing prioritized US patent applications and reaching a quick agreement with the examiner.
Looking to protect your invention quickly before you start selling it?
Call Childs Patent Law at 832-621-0353 and let’s talk about protecting your profit margins.