Maintained by The Center
...
Once you obtained research units, you can try to get your research patented by using them in the RESEARCH screen. This varies, but you can expect approximately 6 to 8 research points getting your company a single patent. You can imagine rolling a dice for each research points, getting a patent each time you get a six.
...
It makes sense to invest in research once your company gets larger (reaches about $1,300,000 in company value or 3,000 employees). The larger your company, the more sense high quality products make. Having a strong CTO on retainer is worth it only if you are getting Q3 research or higher.