U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Proposes Fee Reductions

The USPTO has proposed a reduction in some of its fees for electronically filing trademark applications and renewing registrations. The reduced fees would become effective January 2015 and are as follows:

• Filing fee for TEAS (electronic) applications reduced $50 to $275 per Class if the applicant authorizes email communication and agrees to electronically file all responses and other documents during prosecution of application (will be known as a TEAS Reduced Fee – TEAS RF – application);

• TEAS Plus filing fee reduced $50 to $225 per Class. TEAS Plus applications are filed/prosecuted electronically, and applicants must choose the covered goods/services from the USPTO’s Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual; and

• TEAS (electronic) renewal of registration reduced $100 to $300 per Class.

The reduced fees apply to applications filed directly with the USPTO (Section 1) or via the Paris Convention (Section 44). The reduced fees do not apply to applications filed via the Madrid Protocol, as those applications do not utilize the electronic TEAS system.

This article appeared in the June 2014 issue of MarkIt to Market. To view our past issues, as well as other firm newsletters, please click here.