The USPTO recently announced significant fee increases that will take effect from 19 January 2025 and apply to all patent, trade mark and design fees paid on or after this date.
The changes include the introduction of new fees and increases by up to 200% for some fees. Key changes that are most likely to impact our clients are summarised in the table below.
It may be possible to save on official fees by taking certain actions before 19 January 2025. Further details are provided in the table below, but we refer in particular to the significant cost savings in attending to the following matters before this date:
- For Patents, lodging continuation applications (particularly if more than 6 years has elapsed since the earliest benefit date, typically the PCT filing date) and Information Disclosure Statements;
- For Trade Marks, lodging declarations of use at the renewal point; and
- For Designs, attending to early payments, particularly the issuance fee, with costs increasing substantially over the period from filing to issuance.
Please let us know if you would like us to consider whether any of your existing matters may be affected.
Please contact us if you have any questions or if you would like to take action before 19 January 2025 to avoid the fee increases.