The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a final rule setting out patent fee increases which came into effect on January 19, 2025.
The USPTO states that costs justify an increase of 10% for up-front fees and 7.5% for other fees except where special circumstances apply and larger increases are justified. The larger increase on up-front fees is justified as bringing the fee closer to the actual cost of examining applications. However, the current 60% and 80% fee reductions for small and micro entities respectively will apply to all fees being changed by the final rule.
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