CSG Law Alert: USPTO to Increase Patent Fees in January 2025
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has published its final rule setting patent fees that will take effect January 19, 2025.
Overall, the cost for pursuing patents is rising by approximately 7.5% across-the-board, with some fees subject to a 10% increase. While many existing fees are being increased, there are also many new fees (52) that could impact patent applications.
With every increase in official costs, strategic and efficient patent strategy merits greater focus. Below are four categories of fee increases that will likely affect applicants’ patent filing and prosecution strategies:
1. Fees for Newly Filed Continuing Applications
- Currently, no additional fees beyond the usual new application filing fees are due for continuation or divisional applications. Under the new fee schedule, there may be additional fees for such continuing applications that are filed six or more years after the earliest benefit date. The USPTO states that these fees would affect about 19.7% of all continuing applications.
- A continuing application filed six or more years after the earliest benefit date will incur a surcharge of $2,700.
- A continuing application filed nine or more years after the earliest benefit date will incur a surcharge of $4,000.
2. IDS Fees
- Currently, no additional fees based on the number of references submitted as part of an Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) are due. Under the new fee schedule, there may be additional fees based on the cumulative number of references cited by Applicants in IDS.
- An IDS that results in the cumulative number of citations exceeding 50 items will incur a surcharge of $200 (the USPTO states that about 13% of applications currently exceed this limit)
- An IDS that results in the cumulative number of citations exceeding 100 items will incur a surcharge of $500 (less any amount previously paid) (the USPTO states that about 8% of applications currently exceed this limit)
- An IDS that results in the cumulative number of citations exceeding 200 items will incur a surcharge of $800 (less any amount previously paid) (the USPTO states that about 4% of applications currently exceed this limit)
3. RCE Fees
- Fees for a Request for Continuing Examination (RCE) will be increasing.
- For a First RCE, the fee will be $1,500, which is a 10% increase more than the current fee.
- For a Second and subsequent RCE, the fee will be $2,860, which is a 43% increase more than the current fee.
4. Design Patent Fees
- Design Patent Fees are increasing dramatically. The USPTO states that due to an increase in filings from Micro Entities, and the lack of maintenance fees for Design Patents, the increases are necessary to recover the cost of examination, with about 55% of design costs currently being subsidized by Utility Patent collections.
- Filing, search, and examination fees increase $80 (36% increase), $140 (88% increase) and $60 (9% increase) respectively.
- Issue fee increases $560 (76% increase).
Applicants have an opportunity to review their patent portfolios to determine if any actions can be taken in the next several weeks to avoid the increased fees.
If you would like to discuss these new fees, or how your patent strategy may be affected, please contact the Patent Team attorneys at CSG Law.