The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced its Final Rule, which adjusts filing fees at various stages of the trademark application and maintenance process. These new fees will take effect on January 18, 2025.
In a move to encourage applicants to use the standard goods/service descriptions from the USPTO’s Acceptable Goods and Services Manual (ID Manual), the USPTO is eliminating the previous standard and reduced fee structure. Instead, a single fee will apply to all applications, with additional fees for those who create their own goods/services descriptions.
Base Application Fee per Class
The final rule introduces a flat fee of $350 per class for all applications.
Fee for Non-Standard Descriptions
A new surcharge of $200 per class will be imposed when applicants enter their own description of goods or services using a free-form text box, rather than selecting from the pre-approved descriptions in the ID Manual. This increases the fee for a standard application from $350 to $550.
Surcharge for Incomplete Information
Applications lacking required information will incur a $100 per class fee.
Fee for Long Descriptions
For non-standard, free-form descriptions of goods or services that exceed 1,000 characters (including punctuation and spaces), applicants will face a $200 surcharge for every additional 1,000 characters. This surcharge does not apply if all descriptions are selected from the ID Manual.
Fee Increases for Trademark Maintenance
The USPTO has raised fees across the board for maintaining trademarks, though grace period fees remain unchanged.
Fee Increases for Intent-to-Use Applications
The Statement of Use (SOU) filing fee has been increased by 50%. However, the cost to file extensions of time for submitting a Statement of Use remains the same.
Our DC IP lawyers are here to assist you with:
- Cost Structure Shift: The cost of filing will now depend more on the nature of the goods/services listed, rather than the number of classes chosen. Using the ID Manual to select goods/services descriptions will result in significant cost savings.
- Emerging Fields: Applicants in emerging fields without standard descriptions in the ID Manual will likely face higher fees due to the need for free-form descriptions.
- Early Renewal: If you have a trademark application eligible for renewal before January 18, 2025, consider renewing early to avoid the fee increase.
- Statement of Use: If you have a pending intent-to-use trademark with a Statement of Use ready, filing before the fee increase on January 18, 2025, may be beneficial.