Can I use AI to write a UK patent application?

Yes, as a drafting aid. AI can interview you, organise the description and suggest variations. You are responsible for its accuracy, and a registered patent attorney should review it before you file.

What makes an invention patentable in the UK?

GOV.UK says it must be new, inventive, and something that can be made and used, a technical process, or a method of doing something.

How long does a UK patent take?

GOV.UK says the application is published around 18 months after you apply, and getting a patent can take several years overall.

Should I keep my invention secret before applying?

To be new, the invention must not have been made publicly available anywhere in the world. Avoid any public disclosure before you file.

Is my invention kept private in Draimo?

Your notes and drafts stay in your account unless you create a share link or add them to a shared team project.

Blog

Business9 min read

How to prepare a UK patent application with AI, and what the IPO charges

The Draimo teamOctober 21, 2026

Short answer

To be patented in the UK, an invention must be new, inventive and something that can be made or used. Since 1 April 2026, the IPO fees for a UK application filed online are £75 to apply, £200 for the search and £130 for substantive examination: at least £405 in total. AI helps you describe the invention completely, with every variation, from your notes and sketches. Have a patent attorney review it before you file.

Try it in Draimo

Describe your invention

Documents: Writes reports, proposals and bids from your brief and files, and downloads them as Word, PDF, PowerPoint or Excel.; Draimo Pro
Draimo Ink: A page you write and draw on; Draimo checks your working in the margin and draws diagrams and plots beside it.; Writing uses no credits; each read uses 15
Files: Attach a PDF, Word file, slides or a photo and ask about it.; One file per message on every plan; several at once on paid plans

What can be patented in the UK

GOV.UK sets three tests. The invention must be new: it must not have been made publicly available anywhere in the world. It must be inventive: not an obvious change to something that already exists. And it must be something that can be made and used, a technical process, or a method of doing something.

The first test has a practical consequence. Tell no one outside a confidential relationship about the invention before you file. A pitch, a post, a demonstration at a trade show or a crowdfunding page can make it publicly available, and then it is no longer new.

What the IPO charges

The IPO raised its fees from 1 April 2026. For a UK application filed online, these are the main fees, from the IPO's own fee table. Professional fees are separate, and GOV.UK notes that a patent attorney can cost several thousand pounds.

IPO patent fees for a UK application filed online, from 1 April 2026
Fee	Online	Before April 2026
Application fee, paid on filing	£75	£60
Search request, UK application	£200	£150
Substantive examination	£130	£100
Total to complete the process	At least £405	At least £310

How long it takes

GOV.UK says the IPO publishes your application around 18 months after you apply, that examination can take place several years after you apply, and that getting a patent can take several years overall. Plan your product and fundraising around that timeline, not against it.

Describe the invention completely

A patent can protect only what the application describes. The most valuable thing you can do before you meet an attorney is write a complete, organised description: the problem, the invention, every part and how the parts work together, how to make it, and the alternatives, such as other materials, shapes and ways of achieving the same function.

Alternatives are where inventors most often leave value behind. You know the version you built; a competitor will build one you did not describe. Ask Draimo to list the variations of each component, and keep the ones that are real.

Technical field: the area of technology, in one sentence.
Background: the problem, and what exists today.
Summary: what the invention is and what it achieves.
Brief description of the drawings: one line per figure.
Detailed description: every component by reference numeral, how it works and how to make it.
Alternatives: other materials, dimensions, arrangements and uses.

Let AI interview you, and draw the figures

Rather than asking AI to write the application, ask it to interview you: one question at a time, until it could describe the invention to an engineer who has never seen it. Each answer becomes a paragraph an attorney can work from, and each gap becomes a visible question rather than a surprise later.

Sketch each figure on a Draimo Ink page, label the parts with reference numerals, and export the page as SVG, a vector file that stays sharp. Ask Ink to read the page and it will check that every numeral is described and the labels are consistent. Formal drawings have their own rules, so treat these as working figures for your attorney.

Why an attorney still reviews it

A registered patent attorney decides how to claim the invention, whether to file abroad and how it relates to what already exists. Draimo is not a patent attorney and does not give legal advice. A complete, well-organised draft makes that review faster and the result stronger.

See how far Draimo can take a draft: a complete patent application for an insulated grocery tote with a phase-change cold panel, with figures described, reference numerals and 20 claims, made on Draimo with the prompt shown. Writing the draft as a document is part of Draimo Pro, £20.99 a month in the UK.

Questions people ask

How much does a UK patent application cost?: From 1 April 2026, the IPO fees for a UK application filed online are £75 to apply, £200 for the search and £130 for substantive examination, at least £405 in total. Attorney fees are separate.
Can I use AI to write a UK patent application?: Yes, as a drafting aid. AI can interview you, organise the description and suggest variations. You are responsible for its accuracy, and a registered patent attorney should review it before you file.
What makes an invention patentable in the UK?: GOV.UK says it must be new, inventive, and something that can be made and used, a technical process, or a method of doing something.
How long does a UK patent take?: GOV.UK says the application is published around 18 months after you apply, and getting a patent can take several years overall.
Should I keep my invention secret before applying?: To be new, the invention must not have been made publicly available anywhere in the world. Avoid any public disclosure before you file.
Is my invention kept private in Draimo?: Your notes and drafts stay in your account unless you create a share link or add them to a shared team project.

Sources we checked

Checked October 21, 2026. Dates and amounts change every year. Ask Draimo for this year's figures, grounded in official sources.

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