Patents

Patent Attorney in Fort Worth, Texas

Registered patent attorneys with a downtown Fort Worth office and the principal office in Arlington. Flat fees quoted in writing before we begin.

Leavitt and Eldredge serves Fort Worth inventors and businesses from a downtown office at 777 Main Street, Suite 600, and from the principal office in Arlington, fifteen miles east. Provisional applications are a flat $2,000, nonprovisional applications $5,000, trademarks $1,200, all quoted in writing before work begins.

The firm's home ground

Leavitt and Eldredge has practised from Arlington, between Fort Worth and Dallas, since the firm was founded. The principal office on Southwest Green Oaks Boulevard is a short drive from anywhere in Tarrant County, and the downtown Fort Worth office at 777 Main Street, on the corner of East 6th and Main, is there for clients who work in the city center. Fort Worth is not a satellite market for us. It is where the firm is.

The work that comes through those doors reflects the city: manufacturers and their suppliers, aerospace and defense subcontractors, oil and gas equipment, medical device inventors, ranchers with a better tool, and consumer products from founders who built the first one in a garage. The common thread is a technical idea that needs to be described precisely enough that the USPTO grants it and a competitor cannot design around it.

What we handle for Fort Worth inventors

The patent search

Before drafting anything we search issued patents and published applications for prior art that would block yours or narrow it. You get a plain answer about what is likely patentable and what is not, so the decision to spend on a full application is made on evidence.

Provisional and nonprovisional applications

A provisional application secures your filing date for twelve months while you test, raise money, or refine the design. A nonprovisional application is the one the USPTO examines and the one that can issue as a patent. We draft both, with the claims written by a registered patent attorney rather than a form service, because the claims are the part that decides what you actually own. The steps are laid out on our how to file a patent application guide.

Office actions and prosecution

Most applications receive at least one rejection. We respond to the examiner, amend claims where it strengthens the application, and carry the matter through to allowance. Every deadline is docketed by the firm, not left in your inbox.

Enforcement and defense

When a competitor copies the invention, or accuses you of copying theirs, we handle the demand letters, licensing negotiations, and federal litigation. See our litigation page for how that works.

A registered patent attorney and a trial lawyer

Richard Eldredge is a licensed engineer as well as a patent attorney, and founded the firm after a career in engineering. Brandon Leavitt is a published biochemist who became the firm's lead litigator; he is admitted in all four Texas federal district courts and has argued before the Federal Circuit and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In Pearson's Inc. v. Ackerman, 7:18-cv-00013, he defended a small cattle rancher against a large manufacturer in the Northern District of Texas and won at trial, with the plaintiff's own trade dress registration cancelled in the process. Their backgrounds are on the attorneys page.

What it costs

provisional application $2,000. Nonprovisional application $5,000. Design patent $1,500. Trademark application $1,200. Each flat fee includes the search, preparation and filing, illustrator and filing clerk fees, attorney time, and the USPTO filing fee for one application, and is quoted in writing before we start. The complete schedule is on the costs and fees page.

Where to find us

Fort Worth: 777 Main Street, Suite 600, Fort Worth, TX 76102, across from The Capital Grille on Main. Arlington (principal office): 4204 Southwest Green Oaks Blvd, Suite 140, Arlington, TX 76017. Call 817-522-4035 for either, or 844-728-3680 toll free. The first consultation is free.

Common questions

Frequently asked

Do you have an office in Fort Worth?
Yes. Our Fort Worth office is at 777 Main Street, Suite 600, on the corner of East 6th Street and Main, in downtown Fort Worth. The principal office is at 4204 Southwest Green Oaks Blvd, Suite 140, in Arlington. Call 817-522-4035 for either.
How much does a patent cost in Fort Worth?
A provisional application is a flat $2,000, a nonprovisional application $5,000, and a design patent $1,500. Each fee is quoted in writing before we start and includes the patent search, drafting, illustrator and filing clerk fees, attorney time, and the USPTO filing fee for one application. Office action responses are quoted separately when they arise.
What is the difference between a patent attorney and a patent agent?
Both are registered with the USPTO and can prepare and file applications. A patent attorney is also a licensed lawyer, which means they can advise on infringement, licensing, contracts, and litigation, and can represent you in court. Both of our partners are patent attorneys licensed by the State Bar of Texas and registered before the USPTO.
Should I file a provisional or a nonprovisional application first?
File a provisional first if the invention still needs testing, funding, or refinement. It secures a filing date for twelve months at a lower cost. Go straight to a nonprovisional if the invention is finished and ready for market, since that is the application the USPTO actually examines. We give a straight answer on which fits at the free consultation.
Where are Fort Worth patent cases heard?
Patent infringement cases from Fort Worth are filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division. Our lead litigator, Brandon Leavitt, is admitted in all four Texas federal districts and has tried an intellectual property case to verdict in the Northern District.
Do you also handle trademarks for Fort Worth businesses?
Yes. Federal trademark registration is a flat $1,200, covering the clearance search, the application, and the response to routine USPTO office actions. Most Fort Worth clients who patent a product also trademark the name it sells under.

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