The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has posted an advisory notice regarding new fees which will very likely come into effect later this month in connection with patent applications and issued patents. Unfortunately, it seems that the government has decided not to give the public advance warning as to the exact date that the new fees will come into place. The USPTO advises that the public should monitor its website on a regular basis in order to stay abreast of this issue. The legislation, HR 4818, when enacted will result in certain changes:
- Revised patent fees;
- A separate fee for filing a patent, searching a patent, and examining a patent (all of which are due on filing); and
- An additional fee for any patent application whose specification and drawings exceed 100 sheets of paper (“application size” fee).
The new filing fee, inclusive of the search and examination fees, is expected to be $1000.00 for a large entity, which reflects a $210.00 increase for the fees normally due when filing a patent application (as a large entity and without additional fees for excess claims or the like). Since this fee is higher than the total charge for filing an application under the present fee schedule including the fee for filing an inventor’s declaration belatedly, clients may wish to consider filing applications which have been prepared, but are waiting for inventors’ signatures, immediately as opposed to waiting for the inventors to sign the declarations. The fees for excess claims, both independent and dependent, are also increasing significantly. Take advantage of the current lower fees while it is still possible to do so!