If you plan on filing a trademark for your domain, brand or business services at the USPTO, it will now cost you more.
After several years of keeping the fees unchanged, the United States Patent and Trademark Office announced its new fee plan yesterday. All previous fees are now null and void.
Fees increased considerably for non-electronic, paper applications: the per class initial application fee is now $600 dollars, up from $325.
Electronic applications are the most common, and they are getting more expensive as well.
Filing a first time application in a single class electronically, is now rounded up at $400 dollars, from $325 dollars previously.
In fact, all USPTO trademark fees have increased, except for a single instance: when applying to extend the “intent to use” grace period by six months, that fee dropped from $150 to $125 dollars. Enjoy the savings!
Domain investors holding numerous trademarks will be mostly affected.
For example, Michael Gleissner, notorious for his numerous applications for trademarks matching domain names not under his control, will most likely feel the pinch, with every trademark renewal or initial application.
For the full table of fee increases at the USPTO, click here.
