Back in the day, when you filed a patent application, you would send in a filing fee that covered filing expenses, searching, and examination -- all for one low price of around $700 (less for small entities). In the recent rash of Fee Changes, the filing fee has been reduced to $300! "Hold-on now," you're saying, "patent office (and attorney) fees are never reduced." The trick is that the PTO added a search fee $500 and an examination fee $200. Bringing the total due on filing to $1,000.
This break-down of the fees suggests that the PTO may also change its practice.
Is there some chance that the PTO will adapt to the PCT practice of providing a search report? What a grand idea.
The new fee structure is certainly interesting, if nothing else. The division of the filing fee into filing, search, and examination fees is, in part, for the outsourcing of searches (which will be initiated in a very limited pilot program under the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2004).
Based on the PTO's 21st Century Strategic Plan, I think you are right...search reports might not be far behind. It seems like requests for examination are the next logical step.
Posted by: J. Matthew Buchanan | Dec 16, 2004 at 09:55 AM