The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) is releasing a new fee schedule effective January 18, 2025, to coincide with the launch of a new electronic filing platform for U.S. trademark applications. These new fees are designed to encourage certain filing behaviors by trademark applicants. Please contact our Trademark Department to discuss strategies for best protecting your valuable brands.

Note: All fees are listed in U.S. Dollars (USD). 

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‍Base Application Fee

The USPTO is replacing its two-tier fee structure for new application filings with a single “base application fee” of $350 per class.

Surcharges

The USPTO is implementing three types of surcharges which may be due in addition to the base application filing fee noted above.

A. Insufficient Information Fee = $100 per class

To incentivize submitting complete application details, an Insufficient Information fee will be charged (per class) for failure to provide certain information to the USPTO related to the applicant, the mark, or the goods/services at the time of filing.

B. Free-Form Goods/Services Fee = $200 per class

To incentivize use of the USPTO’s ID Manual for Goods and Services, an additional fee will be charged (per class) for any goods/services entered into the free-form text box rather than being selected from the USPTO’s pre-approved descriptions.

C. Character Limit Fee = $200 per class for each group of 1,000 characters beyond the first 1,000 characters when using the Free-Form Text Box.

To incentivize concise descriptions of goods/services and use of the USPTO’s ID Manual for Goods and Services, an additional surcharge will be charged for every set of 1,000 additional characters in the goods/services description beyond the first 1,000 characters when using the free-form text box. The character count includes spaces and punctuation and the new fee will be in addition to the surcharge for using the free-form text box. This fee does not apply to any goods/services pulled from the ID Manual, even if such descriptions exceed 1,000 characters.

Madrid Applications (designating the U.S.)

As WIPO is unable to implement the surcharge system, the United States Patent and Trademark Office is increasing its flat application filing fee for Madrid applications designating the U.S. to $600 per class (as paid in Swiss francs to WIPO), effective February 18, 2025. Depending on circumstances, it may be more cost-effective to consider filing direct-national applications in the United States.

The fee for renewing an international registration that designates the United States before WIPO will also increase to $325 per class, effective February 18, 2025.

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