Filing fee

Prepare and file the patent application documents. This document is called a specification. The specification must be clear enough so that anyone skilled in the subject matter of the invention could recreate your invention and use it. In the written portion of the specifications the inventor must slate the claims of the invention. These claims must show that the invention is novel and unobvious. Also, where applicable, illustrations must accompany the specification. There are filing fees for patent applications and if the application is successful there are maintenance fees to keep the patent in force. Literature describing patent applications and how they are to be submitted can be obtained from the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, Washington, D. C., 20231. This is also the address to submit properly prepared patent applications. 

The application for a patent must contain the request for the grant of a patent, the specification, the claim(s), the abstract and the filing fee. 

The first and most basic paper pertaining to patents which needs the inventor s signature is the oath. This is a required instrument without which no patent application can be filed, since the Patent Office rules prescribe that a patent application to be examined by the Patent Office must be accompanied by an oath, a petition for the grant of the patent, and the filing fee. The oath is, in most cases, a formal document which states the country of which the applicant is a citizen fit has been held that the inventor intends to become a U.S. citizen is unacceptable (2), but the statement that he is a citizen of no country was accepted (13). It also states that the applicant believes himself to be the first and original inventor of the improvement described and claimed in the attached specification that he does not know and does not believe that the same was ever known or used before his invention thereof or patented or described in any printed publication in any country before his invention thereof or more than one year prior to the application, or in public use or on sale in the United States more than one year prior to the application that the invention has not been patented in any country foreign... 

Patent applications must be filed within a reasonably short time after execution of the oath. The court accepted an oath that was five weeks old (8) but refused an application, which was filed promptly after execution of the oath, because filing became effective only when the filing fee was submitted five months later (11). 

An alternate strategy is to file the foreign applications under the provisions of the PCT to obtain, an additional 18 months before the significant filing fees and cost of translations are incurred (see discussion under PCT, above). 

Filing a patent application also gives rise to payment of fees, that is, filing fees, examination fees (if any), and to payment of annnities. Payment of annuities or periodical fees must be paid throughout the whole life of the patent. Fees mnst be paid in dne time. Failnre to pay fees antomat-ically invalidates the patent or the patent application. 

There are two situations in which the EPA will review several new chemicals together. The first is when up to six substances have similar chemistry, toxicology, uses, and expected manufacturing or importation quantities. The EPA will accept a single consohdated PMN that covers all of the substances, provided a Prenotice Coordinator has eigreed that the substances are sufficiently similar. There are reduced filing fees for consolidated PMNs. Consolidated PMNs can be filed on two related polymers, one with a specific monomer or other reactant above the two percent rule level so that monomer or reactant is part of the polymer s chemical identity and the other with the same monomer or other reactant below the two percent rule level so that monomer or reactant is excluded from the polymer s chemical identity. 

Step 13. Once all reviewers have commented on the draft PMN, the MRC shall assign a TS-number to the PMN, and shall submit the required filing fee, with the TS-number, to the EPA. 

The application must be completed in English, be acciu-ate and complete, include the filing fee ( 300 for each authority requested), and be signed by the applicant. 

The timing of a patent application is of cracial importance. It is not necessary to perfect the invention before an application is made and too much delay may mean that someone else will patent first. As a general rule, if an invention appears to be patentable and of commercial interest, an application should be filed. If in doubt, apply. At tins early stage, all that need be filed at the British Patent Office is an indication that a patent will be sought, a description of the invention and the filing fee. 

The cost of obtaining a patent (see Table D.l) varies from one country to another and the judicious choice of countries in which to file depends on the returns to be expected relative to the filing fees and subsequent maintenance fees. 

After filing the provisional patent the inventor should be trying to license, sell or otherwise exploit the invention on a confidential non-disclosure agreement with the view that an interested company would within the 1 year period of grace, file the necessary patents in various countries on behalf of the inventor and, or course, pay all the application fees and maintenance fees. If this does not transpire, then it is up to the inventor to pay the application fees which would be classed as a small entity status and is therefore usually half of the regular filing fee. 

The claims, which are numbered, are the main goal of the patent and the only parts which can be changed once the patent has been filed. The claims are classified as independent claims (limit of 3 - more cost extra) which stand alone, and dependent claims which refer to a previous claim. Extra claims (over 20 in all) add to the cost of the filing fee. Each country has different requirements concerning dependent and independent claims. If one or more of your claims are allowed by the examiner then the patent will be granted. 

A person loses their right to a patent if the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or sale in this country more than one year prior to filing the patent application. This is true even if it is the inventor who discloses the invention. For example, if Joe invents a new chemical and publishes a paper in J.A.C.S. and then 13 months later decides to file a patent application on the new chemical, he is not entitled to a patent. Similarly, consider the situation where Joe has a formulation for a new mosquito repellent and sells it for more than a year, to make sure that the market is profitable enough to warrant legal and filing fees. He has lost his right to a patent. 

A filing fee. Reference 10 gives a schedule of fees, beginning with a basic fee of 630. 

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