On January 18, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is increaseing some existing fees and introducing new surcharges relating to filing and prosecution of applications and maintenance of registrations. This email provides more details about these fees and surcharges and includes an updated version of our Trademark Fee Schedule and Hourly Rate Schedule.
Application-Related Fees and Surcharges (Sections 1 and 44)
The two-tiered TEAS/TEAS Plus filing system will be phased out in favor of a single “base application” that maintains the current fee of $350 per class. The lower $250 per class filing fee will no longer be available.
The USPTO has also instituted new surcharges that may be applicable in certain circumstances.
Identification of Goods/Services Surcharges
Most notably, a surcharge of $200 per class will apply if the identification of goods/services does not exclusively use pre-approved identifications listed in the Trademark ID Manual, but is instead written “freeform.”
Where the identification is written freeform, a $200 per class surcharge will apply for each group of 1000 characters (including punctuation and spaces) beyond the first 1000. This surcharge is applicable only to the affected class.
Avoiding these fees will require careful consideration of how best to identify the goods/services in each class. Whereas current practice often supports using expansive freeform descriptions, in some cases, clients should consider using broader and shorter descriptions taken from the ID Manual. We will advise on crafting descriptions that claim the broadest scope while minimizing the chances of incurring surcharges.
Insufficiency Surcharge
A $100 per class insufficiency surcharge will apply where the application lacks any of the following required information.
- Applicant’s name and domicile address;
- Applicant’s legal entity;
- Citizenship of each individual applicant, or the state or country of incorporation or organization of each juristic applicant;
- If the applicant is a domestic partnership, the names and citizenship of the general partners, or if the applicant is a domestic joint venture, the names and citizenship of the active members of the joint venture;
- If the applicant is a sole proprietorship, the state of organization of the sole proprietorship and the name and citizenship of the sole proprietor;
- At least one filing basis.
- If the application contains goods and/or services in more than one class, classification and dates of use for each class;
- A filing fee for each class of goods and/or services;
- A verified statement dated and signed by a person properly authorized to sign on behalf of the applicant;
- For stylized marks, a digitized image of the mark.
- For standard character marks, a typed drawing of the mark;
- If the mark includes color, a statement naming the color(s) and describing where the color(s) appears on the mark, and a claim that the color(s) is a feature of the mark;
- If the mark is not in standard characters, a description of the mark;
- If the mark includes non-English wording, an English translation of that wording;
- If the mark includes non-Latin characters, a transliteration of those characters;
- If the mark includes an individual’s name or likeness, either (1) a statement that identifies the living individual whose name or likeness the mark comprises and written consent of the individual, or (2) a statement that the name or likeness does not identify a living individual;
- If the applicant owns one or more registrations for the same mark and the owner(s) last listed in Office records of the prior registration(s) for the same mark differs from the owner(s) listed in the application, a claim of ownership of the registration(s) identified by the registration number(s);
- If the application is a concurrent use application, compliance with § 2.42;
- An applicant whose domicile is not located within the United States or its territories must designate an attorney as the applicant’s representative and include the attorney’s name, postal address, email address, and bar information; and
- Correctly classified goods and/or services, with an identification of goods and/or services from the Office’s Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual within the electronic form.
If for any reason we believe it is advisable to file without supplying required information, we will discuss this with you in advance.
Application Fees for Inbound Madrid Protocol Filings (Section 66(a))
Of particular note for applicants domiciled outside of the U.S., the fee increases will impact the designation of the United States in inbound filings through the Madrid Protocol. As of February 18, 2025, those fees will increase from $500 to $600 per class.
Note that the new surcharges outlined above will not apply to these applications.
Application Prosecution Fees
Statements of Use/Amendments to Allege Use
USPTO fees for Amendments to Allege Use and Statements of Use will increase from $100 to $150 per class.
Registration Maintenance Fees
The USPTO has also introduced increases in fees for maintenance of trademark registrations, as follows:
- Declaration of Use under Sections 8 or 71: increase from $225 to $325 per class.
- Declaration of Incontestability under Section 15: increase from $200 to $250 per class.
- Application for Renewal under Section 9: Increase from $300 to $325 per class.
If you have any questions about any of these fees and surcharges and what they might mean for your trademark filing and maintenance strategy, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
