The United States Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO) has announced new government fees for utility and design patents and patent applications to take effect from 19 March 2013.
Many of the new fees will be significantly higher than the current fees and the increases will extend to both large and small entity patent owners and applications. Accordingly, all patent owners and applicants should consider where possible bringing forward actions which attract fee payments in order to avoid the increase.
The increases will apply to most commonly paid fees, including new application filings and patent renewals. By way of example, the large entity application fees for a utility patent application will rise from USD1,260 to USD1,600, whilst utility patent renewal fees will jump by up to 54% to USD7,400 for the final renewal fee.
For further information about these fee increases, or to discuss options for minimising their impact, contact POF.