On September 20, 2025, Rebecca Liebowitz and Sahar Ahmed published a specialist chapter, "Understanding the new 2025 US trademark filing system and fee increases" in WTR. The following is an excerpt:
On 18 January 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) enacted new rules that replaced a dual-application model (ie, TEAS Standard and TEAS Plus) with a single application involving increased fees if certain requirements are not met at the time of filing. While applicants are now faced with higher fees and burdensome requirements, the rationale behind the enactment is to minimise examining attorney time and pendency at the USPTO.
Specifically, under the new rules, the USPTO now imposes a:
- US$100 fee per class for providing insufficient information;
- US$200 fee per class for identifications of goods and services entered using a free-text form that are not found within the Trademark Identification (ID) Manual; and
- US$200 fee for each additional 1,000 characters (in excess of 1,000 characters) used to identify goods and services in an application.