The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently enacted a rule (Final Rule) that increases a number of fees for filing trademark applications, maintaining trademark registrations, and filing oppositions and cancellations before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The Final Rule is effective on January 2, 2021.
The USPTO enacted the Final Rule to offset the cost of the USPTO's trademark-related operations, provide necessary resources, and accomplish the USPTO's trademark-related strategic goals.
Both the increase in certain existing fees, as well as the fees for actions that were previously without cost, range from modest to fairly substantial and will have a significant impact on brand owners seeking to register, maintain, and enforce their trademarks. In view of these fee adjustments, brand owners considering filing new trademark applications, or who have upcoming deadlines, should proceed with filings straightaway, in order to avoid incurring the increased government fees that will take effect on January 2, 2021.
The most notable fee adjustments are listed below.
Application and Application-Related Fees
|
|
Current Fee |
New Fee |
| TEAS Standard | $275 per class | $350 per class |
| TEAS Plus | $225 per class | $250 per class |
| Lower processing fee for failing to meet TEAS Plus requirements | $125 per class | $100 per class |
Post-Registration Fees
|
|
Current Fee |
New Fee |
| Section 8 or 71 declaration filed through TEAS | $125 per class | $225 per class |
| New fee for deleting goods, services, and/or classes from a registration after submitting a Section 8 or 71 declaration but before the declaration is accepted | No fee | $250 per class |
Petition to the Director and Letter of Protest Fees
|
|
Current Fee |
New Fee |
| Petition to the Director filed through TEAS | $100 | $250 |
| Petition to revive an abandoned application filed through TEAS | $100 | $150 |
| New fee for Letter of Protest | No fee | $50 per application |
TTAB Fees
|
|
Current Fee |
New Fee |
| Petition to cancel filed through ESTTA | $400 per class | $600 per class |
| Notice of opposition filed through ESTTA | $400 per class | $600 per class |
| Initial 90-day extension requests for filing a notice of opposition, or second 60-day extension requests for filing a notice of opposition, filed through ESTTA | $100 per application | $200 per application |
| First 30-day extension request for filing a notice of opposition, filed through ESTTA | No fee | No fee |
| Final 60-day extension request for filing a notice of opposition, filed through ESTTA | $200 per application | $400 per application |
| Ex parte appeal filed through ESTTA | $200 per class | $225 per class |
| New fee for second and subsequent requests for an extension of time to file an appeal brief in an ex parte appeal filed through ESTTA (there is still no fee for a first request) | No fee | $100 per application |
| New fee for appeal briefs in an ex parte appeal filed through ESTTA | No fee | $200 per class |
| New fee for requests for oral hearings | No fee | $500 per proceeding |
See Final Rule at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/11/17/2020-25222/trademark-fee-adjustment for all fee changes.
For more information or questions, or assistance with filing your trademark applications, please contact Kristen Ruisi, Rebecca Liebowitz, or Andrew Price.