/>iHighlights
- Patent fees will increase across most categories, including filing, maintenance, and excess claims, on Jan. 19, 2025
- New surcharges will apply to continuations filed six or nine years after the earliest benefit date (EBD); PTAB petitions will experience increases across the board
- Trademark fees also will see adjustment including a unified application fee that will replace the TEAS Plus/Standard system, as well as others. Additional surcharges will apply for missing information, custom descriptions, and lengthy filings.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is set to increase fees beginning Jan. 19, 2025, for patent-related fees, and Jan. 18, 2025, for trademark-related fees as part of routine updates at the USPTO to maintain alignment with operational costs and resource requirements. Tables that summarize targeted fee increases for the most common types of filings with the USPTO are included below. A global 7.5 percent increase is being applied to all filings that do not have a targeted fee increase.
| Patent-Related Fees | Current Fee | Fee Effective 1/19/2025 | Percentage Increase | |
| Filing Fees | ||||
| Utility Patent Application Fees | $1,820 | $2,000 | 10% | |
| Utility patent application issue fees | $1,200 | $1,290 | 7.5% | |
| Design patent application fees | $1,020 | $1,300 | 27% | |
| Design patent issue fees | $740 | $1,300 | 76% | |
| Claim Fees | ||||
| Each independent claim in excess of 3 | $480 | $600 | 25% | |
| Each claim in excess of 20 | $100 | $200 | 100% | |
| Request for Continued Examination (REC) Fees | ||||
| First RCE | $1,360 | $1,500 | 10% | |
| Second and subsequent RCE | $2,000 | $2,860 | 43% | |
| New Continuing Application Surcharge | ||||
| Applications filed six (6) years or more after the earliest benefit date | $2,700 | |||
| Applications filed nine (9) years or more after the earliest benefit date | $4,000 | |||
| Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) and IDS Size Fees** | ||||
| IDS filing fee | $260 | $280 | 8% | |
| IDS with 51 to 100 items of information | $200 | |||
| IDS with 101 to 200 items of information | $500 less any amount previously paid | |||
| IDS with more than 200 items of information | $800 less any amount previously paid | |||
| Terminal Disclaimer Fees | ||||
| Filing of Terminal Disclaimer | $170 | $183 | 8% | |
| Maintenance Fees | ||||
| Fee due at 3.5 years | $2,000 | $2,150 | 8% | |
| Fee due at 7.5 years | $3,760 | $4,040 | 7% | |
| Fee due at 11.5 years | $7,700 | $8,280 | 8% | |
| Patent Term Extension (PTE) Applications Fees** | ||||
| Application for PTE fee | $1,180 | $2,500 | 112% | |
| Initial Application for interim extension fee | $440 | $1,320 | 200% | |
| Request of a supplemental redetermination after a notice of final PTE determination | $1,440 | |||
| Petition Fees | ||||
| Petition Associated with Unintentional Delay of More Than 2 Years | $2,100 | $3,000 | 43% | |
| Patent Trials and Appeals Board (PTAB) Fees | ||||
| Request of Review of PTAB Decision by Director Fees | $452 | |||
| Petition for PTAB | 25% increase for all PTAB trials |
*Key adjustments are shown below for undiscounted (large) entity fees; small entities generally receive a 60 percent discount and micro entities generally receive a 75 percent discount on these undiscounted fees.
**Fee applies to all entities with no discounts being given to small or micro entities.
| Trademark-Related Fees | Current Fee | Fee Effective 1/19/2025 | Percentage Increase |
| Application and Registration Fees | |||
| Unified Base Application Fees, per class* | $350 | ||
| Intent-to-Use Applications (Statements of Use and Amendments to Allege Use) Fees, per class | $100 | $150 | 50% |
| Madrid Protocol Applications (Application fee filed with WIPO (Section 66(a))), per class | $500 | $600 | 20% |
| Post-Registration Maintenance Fees | |||
| Section 8 Declarations (filed between the 5th and 6th year after registration) | $225 per class | $325 per class | 45% |
| Section 9 Renewals (filed every 10 years) | $300 per class | $325 per class | 8% |
| Section 15 Declarations (Declaration of Incontestability) | $200 per class | $250 per class | 25% |
| Section 71 Declarations | $225 per class | $325 per class | 45% |
| Renewal fee filed at WIPO | $300 per class | $325 per class | 8% |
| Petitions | |||
| Petition to the Director Fee | $250 | $400 | 60% |
| Petition to Revive an Application Fee | $150 | $250 | 67% |
| Letter of Protest Fee | $50 | $150 | 300% |
*The distinction between TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard applications will be eliminated and a single base application fee of $350 per class will apply to applications under Trademark Act Sections 1 and 44.
New surcharges will also be in effect for each of:
- Insufficient Information: A $100 fee per class will be charged for applications lacking required details, such as the applicant's name, domicile address, or entity type.
- Custom Identifications: Using custom descriptions for goods or services instead of selecting from the USPTO's ID Manual will incur a $200 fee per class.
- Excessive Text Length: An additional $200 fee per class will apply for each set of 1,000 characters exceeding the initial 1,000 characters in custom descriptions.
For patent applications, we suggest considering a comprehensive review of your portfolio, at least with respect to each of the following:
- Continuation applications that would have benefit dates of more than six or nine years
- Information Disclosure Statements with over 50 cumulative prior art listings
- Second or subsequent RCEs
- Design patent applications
With respect to trademarks, those looking to file new applications with long or unusual descriptions of goods and services may consider filing these applications before the fees for using free-form text boxes and additional characters go into place.
Takeaways
If you are planning to file a new patent or trademark application, submit a renewal, or pay maintenance fees in the near future, it may be advantageous to do so before Jan. 19, 2025, or Jan. 18, 2025, respectively, to take advantage of the current fee structure before the increases take effect.
