Effective January 2, 2021, the USPTO will increase its trademark and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) fees for the first time in approximately three years. Many fees are a significant increase, doubling the current costs. In considering the increases, the USPTO took into account the state of the US economy, the operational needs of the agency, and the public comments received when reviewing the proposed changes.
The main changes as set forth on the USPTO website, found at https://www.uspto.gov/trademark/laws-regulations/updated-trademark-ttab-fees-processes?utm_campaign=subscriptioncenter&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term) are below:
Application and application-related fees:
- TEAS Standard: $350 per class
Up from $275 per class - TEAS Plus: $250 per class
Up from $225 per class - Processing fee for failing to meet TEAS Plus requirements: $100 per class
Down from $125 per class
Post registration fees:
- Section 8 or 71 declaration filed through TEAS: $225 per class
Up from $125 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: $250 per class if filed through TEAS
- There will be no fee if you electronically file a section 7 request to amend your registration before submitting a section 8 or 71 declaration and only delete goods, services, and/or classes in the request (otherwise, the current fee for filing a section 7 request through TEAS is $100).
Petition to the Director and letter of protest fees:
- Petition to the Director filed through TEAS: $250
Up from $100 - Petition to revive an abandoned application filed through TEAS: $150
Up from $100 - New fee for letter of protest: $50 per application
TTAB fees:
- Petition to cancel filed through ESTTA: $600 per class
Up from $400 per class - Notice of opposition filed through ESTTA: $600 per class
Up from $400 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: $200 per application
Up from $100 per application - There is still no fee for a first 30-day extension request for filing a notice of opposition, filed through ESTTA.
- Final 60-day extension request for filing a notice of opposition, filed through ESTTA: $400 per application
Up from $200 per application - Ex parte appeal filed through ESTTA: $225 per class
Up from $200 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: $100 per application
- There is still no fee for a first request.
- New fee for appeal briefs in an ex parte appeal filed through ESTTA: $200 per class
- New fee for requests for oral hearings: $500 per proceeding
The USPTO is implementing partial refunds for petitions to cancel in default judgments if the cancellation involves only a nonuse or abandonment claim, the defendant didn’t appear, and there were no filings other than the petition to cancel.
If you have any questions regarding these fee changes or regarding any trademark or TTAB procedures, please reach out to Christina L. Winsor, Chair and Partner of our Intellectual Property Group.
CONTACT
