How much does a patent attorney cost?
A quick summary of Australian patent attorney hourly rates, fees and billing practices
Free consultation
Most Australian patent attorneys will start with a free-of-charge discussion. It’s an opportunity to go over your patent matter, the options for proceeding and the overall costs including patent attorney fees and Patent Office fees. We then provide a written quote and only charge if and when you instruct us to get to work.
Please contact us when you’re ready to start the conversation.
Hourly rates
Australian patent attorneys typically charge in the range of $400 to $1,100 + GST per hour plus fixed charges for certain administrative actions. The hourly rates depend on the attorney’s skill and experience and on the business systems and support staff available to them.
Most patent attorneys are assisted by at least one highly-skilled paralegal whose time is not separately charged. The patent paralegals attend to all the administration in the background, type and format documents and correspondence. They also maintain meticulous records and files for the attorneys so that the attorneys can focus on the high-value attorney work and have all of the information organised and at hand to work efficiently.
Our principal attorney, Ben Mott, charges $880 + GST per hour. Ben has more than 17 years’ experience in IP after an earlier career in engineering. He is supported by robust business systems and three senior paralegals with over 100 years of experience between them – see Our People.
Fixed charges
The fixed charges often range from about $400 in connection with a patent examiner’s report to about $2,500 in connection with filing a national patent application. These fixed charges relate to clerical and administration work. They also include allowances for associated routine correspondence and procedural discussion so that we are not ‘on the clock’ for every minor discussion or email.
Overall patent costs
The total cost of patenting includes the patent attorney fees and the Patent Office fees. Getting an Australian patent often costs about $17,000 + GST over about four or five years. International patent strategies often cost about $100,000 + GST over the first four years, e.g. if you aim to patent in several individual countries plus Europe as a region. See also How much does a patent cost?
No surprises
Patent costs depend on unknowable factors. Some patent applications sail through examination. Others face multiple objections that call for hours of work. Nonetheless, with well over 100 years of experience between us, the BRM team is very good at estimating the hours required and foreshadowing costs.
We work on the basis that no invoice should come as a surprise. At each step of the way, we foreshadow the expected cost and timing of the next step. If at any stage it appears that additional work might be called for, we seek your instructions before we go any further.
Transparent pricing
We do all that we can to be clear, upfront and fair in everything we do including in our pricing. Please consider the quality of the information on this page and its sister page How much does a patent cost?. Please also see what our clients have to say about us on our Home Page and Google Reviews.