Before you disclose your idea to anyone, including invention promotion companies, make sure you talk to a professional first. Our practitioners are ready to help you determine patentability of your invention before you spend thousands of dollars on promotion and reduction to practice.
An applicant who is neither a small entity nor a micro entity is considered to be a corporate entity and must pay standard fees.
Small entity is an entity that:
Micro entity qualifications:
has not been named as an inventor on more than 4 prior patent applications (provisional applications, patent applications filed in a foreign country, PCT international applications for which the basic US national fee was not paid, and applications that a party has assigned or is under an obligation of contract or law to assign as a result of previous employment do not count);
has gross income less than 3 times the median household income in the U.S. for the preceding calendar year (for 2018, an income less than $177,117). For parties not paid in US dollars, the average currency exchange rate during the previous calendar year applies.);
has not assigned, licensed or otherwise granted an interest in the invention to an entity which has a gross income more than the amount listed above (unless the entity relates to an institution of higher education);
and also meets the requirement for small entity status
Or, the application must be assigned, granted, conveyed, or is under and obligation of contract or law to assign, grant, or convey, a license ownership interest in the particular application to the institution of higher education. Pursuant to paragraph (d), applicants employed by the university who derive a majority of their income from the university, or an applicant who has assigned or has an obligation to assign to a university can also claim micro-entity status, regardless of income.