Cost

Obtaining and managing patent rights for an invention is very expensive. For example, a U.S. patent can cost in the range of $30,000 to $50,000 over its 20-year life. When a commercial partner is identified early (e.g., before a patent application is filed), that commercial partner often pays the patenting costs. However, even if a commercial partner has not been identified, the UW CoMotion may choose to incur the patenting costs if there is a reasonable likelihood that those costs can be recovered from a commercial partner later.

Provisional patent filings are supported whenever there is a reasonable belief that there is an intellectual property position and either a discussion with a licensee/investor or a public disclosure is imminent. While filing a provisional patent application in the U.S. is relatively inexpensive in dollars, these filings utilize significant resources from the inventors and from CoMotion’s internal staff and are less valuable if filed before sufficient support for the invention is included. Please reach out to a CoMotion innovation manager for advice on the best timing to protect an invention.

Within one year of filing a provisional application, a non-provisional patent filing must be made to continue protection. CoMotion aims to support these patent expenses when there is an engaged inventor team, an ongoing strong intellectual property position, and evidence of significant market traction such that a license is likely within four years of filing a provisional patent application. Typical support includes normal expenses associated with a U.S. patent through to issuance of the first patent in a family and the first U.S. maintenance fee for that patent due 3.5 years after issuance. Cost-effective management of patent activities is also provided, which can be a significant benefit to the ultimate licensee as patent filing legal costs can escalate quickly.

Alternative sources of funding (such as from another university source or a prospective license) will be needed for additional costs such as maintenance fees due 7.5 and 11.5 years after issuance, additional filings in the same family, foreign filing costs, or new filings where the inventor(s) already have a large unlicensed portfolio.