Patents: The Dollar Side of Mothering an Invention

The January 2006 issue of Kiplinger's magazine contain some interesting data on patents derived from the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Here are some of the data:

• $500 - the cost of filing a utility-patent application including filing, search and examination fees
• %700 - amount you pay when the patent is issued
• 30 - average number of months it takes for a patent to be granted after an application is filed
• 53% - percentage of investors who generated sales from inventins they marketed
• 57% - percentage of investors who sold their invention for a profit