On January 18, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) implemented significant changes to trademark application filing procedures and fees. The changes will result in higher costs and fees for trademark applicants in the USPTO.
The key changes and impacts of the changes are described below.
New Base Application System and Increased Fees
- The USPTO eliminated the current “TEAS Plus” ($250/class) and “TEAS Standard” ($350/class) options, which had set a USPTO fee as low as $250 per class if applicants selected goods/services from the USPTO’s ID Manual.
- Instead of the former TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard applications, the USPTO will now charge applicants a single "base application" (minimum) fee of $350 per class of goods and services.
- The USPTO fee for Madrid Protocol applications (related to obtaining international trademark rights) increased from $500 to $600 per class.
- The USPTO increased various post-registration trademark maintenance fees, including Sections 8 and 71 Declarations of Continued Use ($225 to $325 per class), Section 9 Applications for Renewal ($300 to $325 per class), and Section 15 Declarations of Incontestability ($200 to $250 per class).
New Surcharges
- The USPTO will charge a $100 per class surcharge for applications with insufficient information (e.g., missing translation, missing mark description).
- The USPTO will charge a $200 per class surcharge for using “free-form” text to describe goods/services instead of selecting from the USPTO's ID Manual. As a result, applicants are strongly encouraged to use the USPTO’s ID Manual to avoid a total filing fee of $550 per class: https://idm-tmng.uspto.gov/id-master-list-public.html
- The USPTO will charge a $200 per class surcharge for each additional 1,000 characters beyond the first 1,000 characters in goods/services descriptions.
