What Price Protection? Want to secure your invention with a patent? It's going to cost you.

You've come up with an idea for the next big thing--but howdo you keep others from stealing it? There's really only oneway to get legal protection, and that's to file a patent withthe U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

Many people think that sending a registered letter detailingtheir idea to an attorney, friend, or themselves (and then keepingit in a safe place, unopened) provides protection. Wrong--itdoesn't. I sent myself such a letter for my TopsyTail. Althoughit was helpful during my patent infringement lawsuits in provingwhen I came up with my idea, it doesn't prevent anyone fromstealing your invention. That's because the only legal form ofprotection recognized by the judicial system is a patent. And asyou may already know, obtaining a patent isn't cheap.

Tomima Edmark is the inventor of the TopsyTail and severalother products, and is author of The American Dream Fact Pack($49.95), available by calling (800) 558-6779. Questionsregarding inventions and patents may be sent to "BrightIdeas," Entrepreneur, 2392 Morse Ave., Irvine, CA92614.

Patent ABC's

To determine how much money you'll need to spend, you shouldfirst understand the two types of patents that most often apply toentrepreneurs:

• Design patent. A design patent protects only theappearance or ornamental design of your invention; jewelry andclothing are two examples. If you make changes to your design, youmust file another design patent to protect the modified version.This patent is relatively easy to register for and is generally theleast expensive to file. A design patent has a term of 14 years andrequires no maintenance fees to keep it in force.

• Utility patent. This type of patent protects thefunction or method of your invention. For example, my TopsyTail hasa utility patent that protects the method by which users invert aponytail using my device. Although this patent application is morecomplicated because it requires you to explain in detail how yourinvention is used, it provides greater protection of your idea. Autility patent is also more difficult to register for and almostalways more expensive to file than a design patent. Its term lasts20 years from the date of filing and requires maintenance paymentsabout every four years to keep it in force.

After choosing the type of patent you want to apply for, younext need to decide whether to file the patent yourself or hire apatent attorney or agent to do it for you. I highly recommendgetting help from a professional; I've heard of several casesin which an inventor filed his own patent only to see it get struckdown in court. When it comes to patents, don't be penny-wiseand pound-foolish.

Filing Fees

If you choose to file your own patent application, your minimumexpenditures will be the filing fees and costs associated withdrawings and document preparation. Assuming you are filing as anindividual or a small entity (as opposed to filing as acorporation), the filing fees are as follows:

Design patent: $165
Utility patent: $395

If you're filing a utility patent, the PTO requires you topay maintenance fees throughout the life of your patent to keep itactive. Those fees are:

Due at 3 1/2 years: $525
Due at 7 1/2 years: $1,050
Due at 11 1/2 years: $1,580

Hiring a patent attorney or agent to file your patent for youwill increase these costs. And since their fees vary widely, Irecommend you interview several attorneys or agents and get anestimate of the total costs from each. Patent filing is fairlystraightforward, so each attorney you contact should be able togive you an estimate. If he or she can't, I recommend you notuse that attorney.

Every two years, the American Intellectual Property LawAssociation (AIPLA) surveys its members to see what they'recharging for basic patent services. Last year's survey revealedthe following ranges:

Design patent application: $500 to $1,000
Utility patent application (fairly straightforward): $3,000to $5,000
Utility patent application (relatively complex, i.e., computerhardware, biotechnology, etc.): $5,550 to $10,000

These ranges don't include costs for drawings, patentsearches or filing fees; they reflect only the attorney's time.Also, keep in mind that these ranges don't include follow-upwork the attorney might have to do for you.

According to the industry standard, more than 90 percent of allpatents receive at least one office action (a communicationregarding your application from the patent examiner). Most of thetime such office actions describe problems with the applicationthat must be addressed before the PTO can proceed with the patent.Every patent application I've filed received at least oneoffice action to which my attorney had to respond. These actionswill further drive up your costs--and there's no way to knowhow many office actions will be issued on your patentapplication.

Before filing a patent, it's wise to perform a patentsearch. This search (usually conducted by a professional) reviewsall existing patents to determine if your idea is unique. It'salso a good idea to have a trained patent attorney analyze thesearch results and give you his or her opinion on your idea'spatentability. Additionally, almost all patent applications requiredrawings that conform to stringent specifications; ask an expertdraftsperson to help you with this.

Here are ranges for these additional costs:

Patent search: $175 to $250
Patent search, analysis and opinion: $650 to $1,200
Professional drawings: $75 to $250 per page

The bottom line: A basic design patent application with the helpof an attorney or agent is going to cost you approximately $1,000to $3,000. With an attorney's help, a utility patentapplication (without maintenance fees) will cost you anywhere from$4,000 to more than $12,000.

Know Your Options

If patent costs are still beyond your budget, you have otherchoices. The PTO offers inventors two other ways to file anddocument the date of invention. Although these filings don'treplace patents, they offer some legal protection.

• Disclosure document: You may file a disclosuredocument with the PTO that describes through words or drawings anyaspects of your invention you wish to disclose. Each one-sided pagemust be numbered, any text or drawing must be able to bephotocopied, photographs are acceptable, and no prototype mayaccompany the document. One original and one copy of the documentmust be signed by the inventor and sent with a self-addressed,stamped envelope and a check for $10 to Box DD, AssistantCommissioner of Patents, Washington, DC 20231. No one reads thisdocument; the patent office simply keeps the original, stamps thecopy with an identifying number and date of receipt and thenreturns it to you. Unless the disclosure document is referred to ina separate letter when you make your patent application, thedocument will be filed in the patent office for only two years andthen be destroyed.

Such a document does not initiate a patent application norprovide patent protection. It does, however, give you a legaldocument proving the approximate date of your invention. In theevent someone then files a patent application for the sameinvention, you still must demonstrate an earlier invention date andprove you did not abandon the idea.

• Provisional patent application: Recent changes innondesign patent laws (following the United States' 1994passage of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade treaty) nowallow for the filing of a provisional patent application. Thisincludes a description of the invention; drawings may be requiredif the description is not clear. It doesn't, however, includean oath or declaration, patent claims, or the specified drafteddrawings that are required with a full patent application. Thisapplication proves you've filed a patent application and allowsyou to claim an early priority date.

Filing a provisional patent application places your invention in"patent pending" status and gives you an additional yearto follow up with a formal application. If you don't file aformal patent application, however, you won't receiveprotection. Unlike the disclosure document, your application willbe reviewed for compliance by the application board. The fee forfiling a provisional application is $75. This option is helpful ifyou're running out of time to file your patent and need toestablish a filing date.

Filing a patent with the help of a qualified patent attorney isdefinitely the best choice if you truly want to protect your idea.Although it's expensive and time-consuming, filing a patent isthe only legal means available to you to defend your invention. Formore information on patent applications, the PTO has a veryinformative Web site (http://www.uspto.gov) designed to answerpatent applicants' questions.