Page 161 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

developing it until it is ready for production may promise to involve so much
expenditure that it is difficult to get a manufacturer interested. It is often the
high cost of development (which along with the royalty to the inventor must
come out of the manufacturing profits) which reduces the revenue an inventor
might otherwise get on his patent. Thus, in inventions where the probable
cost of development is the least, the inventor has the best chance of realizing
a large royalty or lump sum payment for his patent.

These difficulties are reviewed not for the purpose of discouraging you from
making money by inventing something, but rather to point out other factors
than the merit of the invention itself or how well it works, in deciding
whether you are going to devote your time and money to a particular
invention you may have in mind.

The Cost of Taking Out a Patent

The cost of securing a patent is one factor of expense which ought to be
balanced against the probable reward for your efforts in the event of success,
and you must take into consideration that an invention is something of a
gamble until the merit of the invention has been demonstrated, and your
patent upheld in the courts. To a certain extent the cost of securing a patent
depends upon how complicated the machine or device is. But, on the other
hand, the very simplicity of some inventions makes them more expensive to
patent because the attorney has to spend more time in presenting arguments
to the Patent Office to overcome the objection that because the invention is
simple it is seemingly obvious. It is seldom possible to have an attorney
prepare and file an application for you for less than $100, including the cost
of the Patent Office drawings and the government filing fee of $30. A worth-
while patent nearly always involves some cost of prosecution in getting the
patent through the Patent Office after it has been filed, and before the patent
is finally issued another $30 must be paid to the government as a final fee.
The total cost of securing a patent, on even the simplest inventions, will be at
least $140 or $150 in most instances. Even the average invention will be a
little more expensive than this to patent, and if the invention is unusually
complicated, the cost of the Patent Office drawings and the time which the
attorney will have to devote to the proper preparation of the application and