Trademark Fee Updates

By Deborah A. Gubernick and Gabriela Berigan

On November 15, 2024, the USPTO announced it would be updating its trademark fee schedule, effective on January 18, 2025 (for filings under Sections 1 and 44 of the Trademark Act) and on February 18, 2025 (for Madrid filings under Section 66). This updated fee schedule is aimed at “provid[ing] the USPTO sufficient aggregate revenue to recover the aggregate costs of trademark operations in future years.”[1]
 
The USPTO estimates its prospective aggregate costs using a budget formulation process. In its projections, the UPSTO estimates a 4.6% increase in applications in 2025, or around 774,000 applications, with an examination capacity of 806. By 2029, the increase could be up to 5.7%, or around 964,000 applications, with an examination capacity of 948. In 2025 there will be a projected 463,756 unexamined trademark applications. But, by 2029, this number should be reduced to 401,645. The fee increases should help.
 
The fee increases were driven by four policy considerations, including: (1) promoting innovation strategies to low barriers into the U.S. trademark process, encouraging growth and innovation; (2) aligning fees with an applicant’s full costs and services; (3) facilitating effective administration for high-quality, efficient, and accurate examination and review proceedings; and (4) offering a variety of processing options to best suit the needs of the applicant.[2]
 
Impactful Changes
The new fee schedule is designed to maintain a balance between providing appropriate and necessary services to fund sustainable growth. There are twenty eight (28) fee changes, seven of which are new fees altogether. A sampling of noteworthy changes include:

Practitioners and frequent filers will note the elimination of Section 1 application filings under TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard systems. Previously, an applicant was incentivized to file using the TEAS Plus system to receive a $100 reduction in the USPTO’s application fee. A TEAS Plus application required that an applicant select goods and services listed in the Trademark ID Manual when filing an application. As an alternative, an applicant could submit a TEAS Standard application if the applicant’s goods/services deviated from the Trademark ID Manual. Under the new fee schedule, the $100 cost-savings for filing a TEAS Plus application is eliminated. Instead, failing to adhere to the same requirements of a TEAS Plus application (complete application and choosing goods and services from the Trademark ID Manual) triggers what are best described as monetary penalties. Specifically, deviating from the Trademark ID Manual will result in an upcharge of $200 per Class; if an application’s description of goods/services exceeds 1,000 characters, this, too, will result in an upcharge of $200 per Class, with incremental increases of $200 for nearly every additional 1000 characters; and an application missing information will be charged $100 per Class. Filers be aware of the changes, be complete when filing, and be precise in goods/services descriptions to avoid unnecessary and unwanted upcharges.

Considerations Moving Forward
If trademark owners have been considering filing a trademark, statement of use, or other types of maintenance and renewal documents for existing applications and registrations, they should do so before the fees increase on January 18, 2025 to benefit from the lower application costs and ability to have more flexibility in describing their goods/services. International applicants that typically have longer descriptions of goods and services, should carefully consider the character limits to avoid a $200 initial fee if the character count is over 1,000. If filing after January 18, 2025, applicants should be precise in choosing goods and services descriptions from the Trademark ID Manual under 1,000 characters to avoid the excess character charge. Applicants should consult the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) Section 800, to verify new filings include appropriate translations, correct classification of goods and services, identification of prior registrations, and related details. Taking the time and care to be precise upfront may prevent unwanted upcharges and may result in fewer issues and grounds for an Examiner to issue an Office Action. Less time in the examination stage will result in less administrative costs to the USPTO. Time will tell if efficiencies are achieved by the new fee structure. In the meantime, take advantage of early filing opportunities to save costs prior to January 15, 2025.