Non-provisional Utility Patent Applications
The non-provisional application establishes the filing date AND initiates the examination process.
The heart of a patent application is the applicant's proposed patent for the invention. This proposal is reviewed by the U.S. patent and Trademark Office during patent examination and modified by the applicant as necessary to obtain approval for the patent to issue, if approval is indeed possible.
From the broadest perspective, a United States patent comprises two parts: the drawing or drawings that are part of the description of the invention; and the specification, which is a verbal description of the invention and its technological environment.
The patent application process, then, is the preparation and filing of drawings and specification for the invention.
Drawings for the applications we file are prepared by our experienced patent draftsman.
The specification for the patent is a hand-crafted legal instrument that describes the invention and the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the invention. The specification concludes with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter that is to be regarded as the invention. Claims may be independent or dependent upon other claims in the patent.
The patent office fee for filing a non-provisional application depends upon the number and complexity of claims in the application. A basic filing fee applies to an application with three or fewer independent claims and twenty or fewer claims total. Additional or more complex claims may increase the filing fee considerably.
In addition, filing fees are discounted according to the type of entity applying for patent. For further information on Patent Office fees, see our informational page on Patent Office Fees and Discounts.