Pierce Company incurred $150,000 of research and development costs in its laboratory to de- velop a new product. It spent $20,000 in legal fees for a patent granted on January 2, 2004. On July 31, 2004, Pierce paid $15,000 for legal fees in a successful defense of the patent. What is the total amount that should be debited to Patents through July 31, 2004?

(a) $150,000.

(c) $185,000.

(b) $35,000.

(d) Some other amount.

AppendixLO1