Client AlertsCorporate & BusinessIntellectual PropertyThe USPTO’s Final Trademark Fee Changes Go Into Effect January 18, 2025

By: Lawrence J. Sheh, John E. Ottaviani, David M. DiSegna, and Hannah Y. Amadei

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced new fees that will go into effect on January 18, 2025.  These changes will impact 28 different trademark fees, including those for trademark applications, maintenance fees for keeping trademark registrations active, petitions and letters of protest fees, and intent-to-use fees. Accordingly, anyone considering applying to register a trademark or renewing an existing registration should seek to file their applications or renewals as soon as possible to save money.

Key Changes:

Base Application Fees
There will now be a single “base application fee” of $350 for applications, regardless of whether the application is based on use, intent-to-use, or a foreign application or registration.

Additional Application Fees
In order to “encourage more complete applications” and to “improve examination efficiency,” the USPTO also is introducing additional fees for certain application issues.  These include:

If the application is missing required information, per class	$100
If applicants use the free-form text box instead of the Trademark ID Manual to describe goods and services, per class	$200
Each additional group of 1,000 characters added to the free-form text box to describe goods and services beyond the first 1,000, per affected class	$200

Important Clarifications:

• The “insufficient information” fee will apply to submitted applications that are missing details that are required in the current TEAS Plus application.
• The extra fee for long descriptions (over 1000 characters) of goods and services will not apply if the additional characters are due to a response to a USPTO Office Action.
• The extra fees will not apply to applications filed for extension of protection of an international registration to the United States from the World Intellectual Property Organization.

A summary of the changes discussed above, as well as additional information on fee increases, may be found on the USPTO website here.

What You Should Do Now:

If you are planning to file new trademark applications, or if you have renewal applications due before January 17, 2026, you are encouraged to take action now before the new fee system and increases take effect on January 18, 2025.  Please reach out to the Intellectual Property team at Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP today to review your options.