Patent legal expenses

grayml57 · ‎March 10, 2020

I was granted a patent in 2019. Are the legal expenses deductible that were paid in 2017, 2018 and 2019 deductible or are only the legal expenses paid in 2019 deductible? I have TurboTax premier and where would I enter the information?

AlanT222 · ‎March 10, 2020

You would deduct the expense in the year the expense was incurred, provide the expense was a business expense.

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CynthiaB1 · ‎July 9, 2021

What if the patent is not part of a business yet? It was designed and paid for due to a hobby.

Carl · ‎July 9, 2021

It was designed and paid for due to a hobby.

It is my understanding that hobby expenses are not deductible. So I would interpret that to mean your legal expenses related to that patent (since it is/was a hobby) are not deductible either.

Patent legal expenses

Deductions & credits

Deductions & credits

Deductions & credits