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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Fee Changes – What You Need to Know

The USPTO has announced fee increases and new fees for patents and trademarks to take place on January 18, 2025, for trademarks, and January 19, 2025, for patents.  The increase in fees and the introduction of new fees by the USPTO is significant, necessitating careful budget considerations requiring many applicants to adjust filing and prosecution strategies.

What You Need to Know on The Patent Side: 

  • RCE fees (undiscounted) will jump to $1,500 for the first RCE, and $2,860 for each subsequent RCE, the latter representing a 43% increase.
  • Excess claim fees, during regular and reexamination proceedings, will increase between 25% and 100%. Design application filing fees will increase by 36%.
  • A new tiered fee schedule for filing continuation applications more than six years from the earliest benefit date (EBD) for the claims of the continuation application will range from (undiscounted) $2,700 for applications filed 6-9 years from the EBD, to $4,000 for applications filed post 9 years from the EBD. p. 2
  • Applicants for a patent term extension will see an increase of between 100% and 200% in the associated application fees.
  • Another new tiered fee schedule is introduced for IDS filings, depending on how many references are cited, ranging from $200 (if there are over 50 references) to $800 (if there are over 200 references).
  • America Invents Act (AIA) trial fees will increase 25%.
  • A new fee for director review of a PTAB decision, following the Supreme Court’s decision in US v. Arthrex, Inc. 141 S. Ct. 1970 (2021), will be $452.
  • There will be a 7.5% adjustment on all otherwise nontargeted fees. In addition, applicants will now be able to expressly abandon National Stage applications prior to examination and receive a refund on search and excess claim fees; this mechanism has already been available to applicants of U.S. priority applications.

What You Need to Know On The Trademark Side:

The USPTO is eliminating the existing two-tiered system and increasing the costs for filing new trademark applications.

  • Basic application (per class): $350
  • An additional fee of $200 (per class) will be required if the wording of the identification of goods and services does not match the terms found in the office’s Trademark ID Manual.  In many cases the wording identifying an applicant’s goods and services will not be found in the manual.
  • If the wording identifying goods or services in a given class is longer than 1,000 characters, a surcharge of $200 will be added, plus another $200 for each additional 1,000 characters.
  • If the application is missing certain information such as a translation of the mark, color claim, or a consent to an individual’s name or likeness, an additional fee of $100 (per class) will be assessed.
  • Other increases include the cost of filing the mandatory declaration of use for a registration ($225 to $325 per class) and the cost of renewing a registration ($525 to $650 per class).  The fee for a petition to the director will increase from $250 to $400, and a letter of protest will increase from $50 to $150.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or would like to discuss how these new fees affect your IP strategies.

About The Authors

A professional headshot of Cheryl Clarkin in front of windows.

Cheryl A. Clarkin

Cheryl has extensive experience in assisting clients with U.S. and international trademark and branding issues, including the selection, clearance, prosecution, enforcement… Read More

A professional headshot of Daniel Holmander in front of windows.

Daniel J. Holmander

Daniel is a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office registered patent attorney (U.S. Reg. No. 59,518) and admitted to the federal district… Read More

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