Filing and Prosecution
Getting and keeping a patent is a sequence of priced decisions, from the first fee and the first office action to foreign filing and each maintenance date.
12 lessons · 50 min
Start the course
5 minWhat filing costs and who qualifies for discounts
US filing fees come in several parts, and a discount is a status you must actually qualify for.
4 minHow to choose a speed lane for examination
Most applications wait in line, and the ways to move faster depend on paying, on work done elsewhere, or on personal status.
4 minHow to answer an office action on time
A rejection is a normal step in a dated conversation with the examiner, and everything you say in it becomes public.
5 minWhat to do after a final rejection
A request for continued examination, an appeal and a continuation each buy something different, so match the path to the dispute.
4 minHow a granted patent can be challenged at the Patent Office
A grant is not the last word, because challengers have routes at the Office and the rules for those routes are moving quickly.
5 minHow the priority year and the PCT buy time
You have 12 months to file abroad, and the PCT can delay the country decision to about month 30, but there is still no international patent.
4 minHow Europe tests novelty and amendments
The European Patent Office applies an absolute novelty test and a strict amendment rule, so a European filing has to be planned from the first draft.
4 minWhat the Unitary Patent trades for lower cost
A Unitary Patent gives one right across many European states at a lower cost at scale, and it puts all of them before one court.
4 minHow China, Japan and Korea reward planning
Each of these offices has its own rights and timing, and three-year examination windows in China and Japan let you stage your spending.
3 minCheck where an invention was made before filing abroad
Some countries restrict filing abroad based on where an invention was made, and in the US and China a mistake can cost the patent right itself.
4 minHow to choose countries by market, rivals and enforceability
File where you sell, where rivals make or sell, and where you can enforce, and stage the spending so each decision comes with more information.
4 minWhy every maintenance date is a keep-or-drop decision
A US utility patent must be paid for three times after grant, and each date is a fresh decision about whether the patent still earns its cost.
The Academy is general education, not legal advice, and reading it doesn't create an attorney-client relationship. Patent law and fees change, so check the linked sources and have a registered patent attorney or agent review your situation before you file. Obsidyan sells patent software, including AI drafting tools, so weigh what these lessons say about AI tools with that in mind.