Patent Attorney Invoice Template
A patent invoice has two kinds of money on it, and the client needs to see the line between them. Professional fees are yours: a flat fee for a patentability search or for drafting an application, or hours for an office action response, at the rates in the engagement letter. Official fees belong to the USPTO (or a foreign patent office): filing, search and examination fees, extension fees, the issue fee. They depend on the client's entity status, because small and micro entities pay 60% and 80% less on most fees, and they are passed through at cost with the fee code. A third group, outside costs such as patent drawings or a foreign associate's charges, also goes through at cost with a receipt. This template keeps the three apart and adds the fields a patent client checks: the matter and application number, the entity status asserted, the deadline or action the work answers, and how much was paid from funds held in trust, so that the balance due is clearly owed to the firm's operating account. The download is an editable HTML invoice with invoice number, dates, a line-item table and totals. Fill it in your browser and print it or save it as PDF, or type or say what you did and InvoiceQuickly drafts an editable invoice for you to check before saving.
Preview this editable document
Download the HTML file to edit its fields, then print or save as PDF. Totals are entered manually.
What This Template Includes
- Client matter number and title of the invention
- Application or patent number, filing date and docket reference
- Engagement letter date and fee basis (flat, hourly, mixed)
- Entity status asserted (undiscounted, small or micro)
- Professional fees by task: date, timekeeper, hours or flat fee
- Office action or deadline the work responds to
- USPTO official fees at cost: fee code, description, amount
- Outside costs at cost (drawings, foreign associates), with receipt reference
- Advance applied from trust and trust balance remaining
- Balance due and the operating account it is paid to
How to Create Your Patent Attorney Invoice
- 01
Describe your work
Type a plain English description of the services you provided, the client, and the amount.
- 02
AI generates your invoice
InvoiceQuickly's AI drafts the client, line items, dates, and totals for you to review before saving.
- 03
Review, download, and send
Check every detail, download the PDF, or use Pro to email the PDF directly to your client.
Recommended Payment Terms
Many patent practices ask for official fees and outside costs in advance, because the firm pays the USPTO on the filing day and a large application can carry several hundred dollars or more in fees before any professional work is billed. Money received in advance for fees or costs not yet earned or incurred is client money: under ABA Model Rule 1.15(c), as adopted by your state, it goes into the client trust account and is withdrawn only as fees are earned or expenses incurred. The invoice then shows what was applied from trust and what remains there. The balance due on the invoice is earned money and is paid to the firm's operating account, never into the trust account. For professional fees, net 30 from the invoice date is common for business clients; print the actual due date. Bill official fees for a filing deadline before the deadline, not afterwards, so the firm is not funding the client's fees.
Need help writing payment terms? Read our guide to invoice payment terms for best practices and templates.
Tax Information
In the US, whether sales tax applies to legal services depends on the state, so check your state's department of revenue; USPTO official fees passed through at cost are a government charge, not part of your fee. For business clients, the IRS instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC say attorneys' fees of $2,000 or more paid in the course of a trade or business are reported on Form 1099-NEC, and that the usual exemption for payments to corporations does not apply to payments for legal services, which is why clients ask a patent firm for Form W-9. Foreign filings bring the foreign associate's own VAT or consumption tax on their invoice; pass it through as charged. InvoiceQuickly applies one tax percentage per invoice to the whole invoice, so if your state taxes your fees, bill official fees and costs on a separate invoice with no tax. It copies saved tax IDs to new invoice PDFs. General information, not legal or tax advice. Last reviewed: 28 October 2026.
Industry context (2026)
Official fees come from the USPTO fee schedule, which took effect on 19 January 2025 and was last revised on 14 August 2026 (USPTO, accessed 28 October 2026). For a utility application, the basic filing, search and examination fees are $350, $770 and $880 undiscounted, and the issue fee is $1,290; a first-month extension of time is $235. The Unleashing American Innovators Act, signed on 29 December 2022, raised the small entity discount from 50% to 60% and the micro entity discount from 75% to 80%. Micro entity status on the gross income basis has its own limit, which the USPTO set at $262,380 from 15 September 2026, and a cap on the number of earlier applications. Under 37 CFR 1.27(g)(2), notice of losing small entity status must be filed before or when paying the earliest issue fee or maintenance fee due after the change. Client money is governed by ABA Model Rule 1.15 as each state adopts it, and registered practitioners, including patent agents, are also bound by the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct, whose 37 CFR 11.115 covers safekeeping client property. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Worked example
Worked example (illustrative professional fees, official fees from the USPTO fee schedule): a patent attorney files a utility non-provisional application for a startup that qualifies as a small entity. The engagement letter of 2 September 2026 sets a $1,800 flat fee for a patentability search and opinion, a $9,500 flat fee for drafting, and $450 an hour for other work. The client deposited $1,500 into the firm's trust account for official fees and drawings. Invoice INV-0217, matter STARTUP-0003, dated 3 November 2026, net 30, due 3 December. Professional fees: patentability search and opinion, flat, $1,800.00; drafting the application (16 claims, 3 independent; 9 drawing sheets), flat, $9,500.00; inventor interview and claim revisions, 28 October, 2.5 hours × $450.00 = $1,125.00. Official fees at cost, small entity, paid on filing 30 October: 2011 basic filing fee $140.00; 2111 search fee $308.00; 2311 examination fee $352.00. Outside cost at cost: formal drawings, 9 sheets, draftsperson's invoice D-5521, $630.00. Subtotal $13,855.00, tax 0%. Applied from trust for official fees and drawings: $1,430.00; remaining in trust: $70.00. Balance due $12,425.00 to the operating account. The entity status is doing real work here: the same three official fees would be $2,000.00 undiscounted and $400.00 for a micro entity, so the invoice states 'Small entity status asserted on filing; tell us before any licence or assignment to a larger company.' The application stays within the 20 total and 3 independent claims covered by the basic fees, so no excess claim fees appear.
Common mistakes to avoid
One lump 'filing' charge
'Application filing: $10,930' mixes your drafting fee with USPTO fees. Show the flat fee, then each official fee with its code, so the client can see the government's share and check the entity rate.
Asking for payment into trust
An invoice for completed work is paid to the operating account. Putting earned fees in trust commingles the firm's money with client money; only advances for future fees and costs go into trust.
Wrong entity rate
Billing undiscounted fees to a small entity overcharges the client; claiming small entity status for a client that licensed to a large company underpays the USPTO. Confirm status in writing and keep it on the invoice.
Paying official fees, then invoicing months later
Filing deadlines do not move, so the firm often pays first. Ask for an advance into trust, or invoice the official fees before the deadline, so the firm is not financing them.
Hiding extension fees
An extension fee caused by late instructions is a client cost; one caused by the firm's own delay usually is not. Show it on its own line with the reason, or not at all.
Invoicing Tips
- 1Give every USPTO fee its own line with the fee code and entity rate (for example '2011 Utility basic filing fee, small entity, $140.00'). The client, or their finance team, can check each amount against the USPTO fee schedule.
- 2State the entity status on the invoice and confirm it with the client in writing before filing. If the client licenses or assigns rights to a company that is not a small entity, the loss of status has to be notified no later than when the next issue or maintenance fee is paid.
- 3Write the deadline the work answers ('Reply to non-final Office action mailed 14 August 2026'). It explains the date of the work and why an extension fee, if any, was needed.
- 4Bill extension-of-time fees caused by late client instructions as official fees at cost, on their own line, with the month of extension. Do not fold them into your professional fee.
- 5Show trust applications as 'Applied from trust: $X; remaining in trust: $Y', matching your trust ledger. The invoice is not the trust record, but it must agree with it.
- 6Convert a foreign associate's charges at the rate you actually paid, and say so in the line, because the client will see a different amount on the associate's invoice.
Related Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a patent attorney invoice include?
The matter and application number, the fee basis from the engagement letter, professional fees by task with dates, timekeeper and hours or flat fee, USPTO official fees by fee code at cost, outside costs with receipts, any funds applied from trust with the remaining trust balance, the total, the due date and the operating account for payment.
Should USPTO fees be shown separately from attorney fees?
Yes. Official fees are set by the USPTO fee schedule and passed through at cost; professional fees are set by your engagement letter. Listing them separately lets the client check each, keeps them out of any discount or tax on your fees, and shows that the official amount matches the entity rate claimed.
How much are USPTO filing fees for a small entity?
On the USPTO fee schedule effective 19 January 2025 (last revised 14 August 2026), a utility application's basic filing, search and examination fees are $350, $770 and $880 undiscounted, $140, $308 and $352 for a small entity and $70, $154 and $176 for a micro entity. Check the schedule on the day you pay, because the fee in effect on payment applies.
Can a client pay a patent invoice into the firm's trust account?
No. Money for work already done is the firm's money and is paid to the operating account. Under ABA Model Rule 1.15, as adopted by each state, a lawyer may not mix their own funds with client funds in trust, except to cover bank charges. Advances for future fees and costs go into trust and are applied only as they are earned or incurred.
Should a patent attorney bill flat fees or hourly?
Many practices use both: flat fees for predictable work such as a patentability search or a provisional application, and hourly or flat-per-action fees for prosecution, where the examiner decides how much work is needed. The invoice should show each the way the engagement letter defines it.
Can InvoiceQuickly create LEDES or UTBMS e-billing files?
No. InvoiceQuickly produces invoices as PDFs (and a CSV export on Pro); it does not create LEDES files, apply UTBMS task codes or keep trust or IOLTA ledgers. If a corporate client requires e-billing, use the system they specify. InvoiceQuickly suits smaller practices whose clients accept a PDF invoice.
Can I make a patent attorney invoice in InvoiceQuickly?
Yes. Type or say the matter, the work and the fees, and InvoiceQuickly drafts an editable invoice you review before saving, with one line per fee code. You can record an amount applied from trust as a partial payment with a reference. Free covers 5 invoices, 5 clients and 3 AI drafts in total; Pro is $9 a month for unlimited invoices and email delivery.