Navigating the New USPTO Trademark Application Fee Structure

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently implemented significant changes to the fee structure for trademark applications, and it's causing quite a stir in the trademark community. 

All US trademark applications filed with the USPTO now incur a single "base application" fee of $350. However, there are also additional surcharges that can significantly impact the overall cost of filing a new trademark application – particularly for brand owners who don’t typically use USPTO pre-approved goods and services. 

The key changes are: 

1. Insufficient Information Fee: If your trademark application does not include all the required base application information, such as the applicant's domicile address or legal entity type, you will be charged an additional $100 fee per class.   

2. Free-Form Text Box Fee: If you use the free-form text box to describe the applicant's goods or services, instead of selecting them directly from the USPTO’s Trademark ID Manual, you will be hit with a $200 fee per class. This fee also applies if you use a fill-in-the-blank field from the ID Manual incorrectly. 

3. Excess Character Fee: If the specification of goods or services you enter in the free-form text box exceeds 1,000 characters, you will be charged an additional $200 per 1,000 characters. 

These new requirements have created some challenges for brand owners and trademark attorneys. Applicants who are used to applying for long and broad specifications of goods and services – such as international applicants or brand owners with large product lines – could face official application fees exponentially higher than what they’re used to paying.  This, in turn, negatively impacts attorneys, who must accurately estimate total costs for their clients and invest time optimizing trademark specifications to minimize penalty fees. 

Sortify.tm is currently in the process of developing a new tool specifically designed to help attorneys navigate the complexities of the updated USPTO fee structure. While we don't have all the details to share just yet, the goal is to provide trademark professionals with a comprehensive solution to calculate accurate costs, optimize their trademark specifications, and deliver greater transparency to their clients. Watch this space!