How much does it cost to file a patent application outside the US?
The cost of filing, prosecuting and maintaining a single application in Europe and Japan is roughly $100,000 (often more) but foreign rights can in some cases easily exceed $200,000 over the life of the patent (and can be as high as around $500,000). Patent rights outside the US are not available for inventions that have been made public unless a US patent application was filed prior to the public disclosure. Patent rights outside the US are available if applications in other countries are filed within one year of the US filing.
