Budgetary Decisions

Filing costs, of course, are not the only factor in deciding where to file. It is probably not worth filing in many countries because: (a) their populations don't have a lot of money; (b) they don't have a reliable legal system; and (c) they have a cultural history of permitting infringement. A particular country that comes to mind is Russia. Even if an applicant could obtain a patent in Russia, could he really enforce it? Given the current legal situation in Russia, enforcement is not at all a foregone conclusion.

Obviously, the game plan is different for different technologies. In petroleum processing, for example, companies often file in Venezuela, Norway, and several of the Middle Eastern countries. In electronic chip manufacturing, companies often choose to file in China and Taiwan. In general, I recommend the following filing schedule based upon the likely budget. Note that the dollar figures shown in the table reflect the estimated costs of securing the patents, not just filing them. Thus, the costs for Western Europe are fairly high because an applicant typically files national phase in seven or eight countries (Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and one or two others depending upon the product involved).

It is critical to appreciate that filing costs in regional filings, such as the EPO (European Patent Office) must still be followed up with national phase validation in the various countries (referred to as "states"). Thus, even after spending perhaps $15,000 to secure grant of an EPO patent, that patent must be validated (within six months) in specific EPO countries to be effective. Typical costs for validating a PCT patent in selected European Countries are as follows: