Our reviewers evaluate products and services based on unbiased research. Top Consumer Reviews may earn money when you click on a link. Learn more about our process.
Sunday, May 18th
Rocket Lawyer is a membership-based patent application service, making it a great option if you're looking for legal help beyond just patents. When it comes to patent application documents, Rocket Lawyer provides only one: the Provisional Patent Application. While this isn't as comprehensive as some services, it still gives you the necessary tools to register your patent with the USPTO for 12 months. However, keep in mind that you'll be responsible for filing the documents yourself, as Rocket Lawyer does not handle that step for you.
Costs $39.99 per month or $239.88 per year
The best part about Rocket Lawyer's provisional patent application is its cost. For the first seven days of your membership with Rocket Lawyer, you won't have to pay for anything. You can fill out, download, and edit any document 100% free. However, after the 7-day free trial, you will be automatically enrolled in a monthly subscription. There, you have two options: RocketLegal and RocketLegal+. RocketLegal costs $39.99 per month and includes document creation e-signing, online chat for legal questions, and discounted rates for pro services. If you pick RocketLegal+, you'll be billed annually at $239.88. This gets you all the same features, but the pro services are half-off or free. So, if you keep up your membership after completing your provisional patent application, you'll have access to tons of extras like business registration, Rocket Tax, trademarks, and more.
Three extra patent documents
With Rocket Lawyer, there are three other patent-related documents outside of the patent application forms. You can get a patent application assignment, which is for transferring or selling the rights to your patent application; a patent assignment, which allows you to sell or transfer the rights to a particular patent (for items already patented); and an invention assignment agreement, which allows you to document your intellectual property rights. These are all included in the membership, so you can access them at any time.
30-day money-back policy
Rocket Lawyer offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee for its services. It promises that if you think there has been an issue with the delivery of the patent application documents or a billing issue, you can contact the Rocket Lawyer support team and get a refund or credit for the service. You have 30 days to make a request, and you can also cancel your membership at any time.
Easy to use for simple legal needs
Rocket Lawyer has a top-tier reputation from the Better Business Bureau with a full "A+” rating and accreditation. On Trustpilot, Rocket Lawyer has an equally stellar reputation with a 4.6-star average rating across thousands of individual reviews. Recently, customers have praised how easy the documents are to fill out and complete. For most basic legal needs (including patent applications), Rocket Lawyer is a perfect choice. However, some customers noted that while the service was excellent, some of the documents were "basic" and could benefit from options for more complex situations. Others noted that it's a little difficult to figure out how to cancel the subscription before the free trial ends, so you may need to contact customer service to get it done correctly and not get charged.
Recommended for those on a budget
Rocket Lawyer is a great place to get some free documents if you know how to use the platform. While it isn't the most comprehensive in terms of patent applications, since you can only get a provisional patent at this time, it's worth a look for the completely free downloadable documents during the 7-day free trial. Plus, if you like the service, you can sign up for a monthly membership and get access to those documents at all times. It's a great, low-cost, one-stop shop, earning Rocket Lawyer a balanced score in our review.
Have you created something new and exciting? A novel invention or a new process for a company? The next step after creating your groundbreaking invention is to protect it from being stolen by someone else.
The best way to do that? Get a patent for it. In the United States, completing a patent application successfully means that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) legally stops anyone who isn't the inventor (you) from making, using, or selling the product unless you have authorized it.
Typically, a patent will last for 20 years after you've filed your application. There are three different patents depending on what kind of invention you're trying to protect. Utility patents cover inventions related to machines, manufactured objects, physical items, and/or improvements to these things. Design patents are for the ornamental or physical design of an item, and plant patents are for any distinct or new variety of growing plant including mutants, hybrids, or seedlings.
There are two ways to get a patent too: provisional and non-provisional. A provisional patent application lets you get the ball rolling to protect your invention in the short term. It's less formal, but it does expire after one year, and you must complete a non-provisional patent application in the interim. The non-provisional form will require more substantial details from you and an examination from a patent examiner at the USPTO. However, your patent does remain protected during the review period.
So, once you've got something to patent, how do you complete the process? For most people, patent applications can require a lot of research, details about your invention, filing procedures, and waiting. The process of submitting your patent application can be very tedious, especially the research portion. To successfully secure a patent, your invention will need to be novel (it needs to be something new or not too close to another invention that's already got a patent). But researching every other patent out there can take time (and money).
This is where patent application services come in. In most places, your paperwork will be completed by experts, so you don't have to worry about boring research and details. While a few services offer a low-cost DIY approach, the best patent application providers will give you the documents, complete the patent research for you, and provide guidance on best practices for filling out your patent application the right way the first time. Choosing a patent application service takes the guesswork out of the process and offers secure document sharing, helpful updates, and sometimes guarantees of application success.
If you're ready to get your new invention protected, there are plenty of patent application services to assist you in safeguarding your ideas. To that end, we've put together a few factors to help you choose the best service:
To help you become the next Thomas Edison, Top Consumer Reviews has researched and ranked today's most popular patent application services online today. This way, you can focus on adding new inventions to your list instead of worrying about protecting your intellectual property!
Select any 2 Patent Application Services to compare them head to head