FILING

1. Prepare the description of your invention ( with drawings)
2. Discuss your material with Patent Hatchery ( we can sign NDA if needed, however our profession assumes confidentiality)
3. Develop strategy, which includes

(a) filing/not filing U.S. provisional application;

(b) performing patent search and patentability analysis;

(c) filing U.S. nonprovisional application;

(d) filing PCT application;

(e) filing National stage for your PCT application;

(f) filing design patent application;

(g) filing Copyright application for your software in addition to patent application for the algorithm.

4. Additional options:

1. filing petition for PPH (Patent Prosecution Highway) program, which is a request to issue U.S. patent based on the positive decision on your National patent application in your country;
2. Filing a petition on accelerated examination based on the age of one of inventors (>65 y.o.);
3. Filing a petition on fast track examination with paying a fee

5. Translation services
6. Financial agreement

(a) choosing entity type to select the fee

(b) payment schedule

This completes the patent application procedure and the patent application is awaiting its examination.

The waiting depends on the type of application and on the technical field. Regular waiting time is about 3 years, while it is about 1 year for accelerated prosecution.

Waiting time for design applications is much shorter, and it is about 1 year.

EXAMINATION

7. In many case we get RESTRICTION REQUIREMENT as a first Office Action. Response has to be submitted.
8. The examiner examines your application? Which results in the allowance, partial allowance or rejection.

1. in case of allowance, we review the case and propose two options
   1. simply issue the patent
   2. file a continuing application prior to the issue, and then issue the patent, see the advantages here:++++
2. in case of partial allowance:
   1. agree with the examiner and amend the claims to get a limited patent allowed
   2. disagree with the examiner and provide an Office Action response in order to get full patent
3. in case of rejection:
   1. disagree with the examiner and provide an Office Action response in order to get full or partial allowance
   2. agree with the examiner and file an improved version of the patent application to overcome the rejection;
   3. agree with the examiner and abandon the application.

ISSUE

We submit the issue fee and accompanying documents.

MAINTENANCE

For US patents you have to pay maintenance fee every 4 years – three times total.