20 March 2013Patents

USPTO implements 2013 fees

The new fees at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), published in January this year, have come into effect.

Compared with 2012, there are cuts to the cost of filing both utility patents (from $380 to $280) and design patents (down to $180 from $250).

But maintenance fees have risen by between 26 and 56 percent, depending on the length of the renewal term. In total, the combined filing, search and examination fees for utility patents have increased from $1,260 to $1,600. The corresponding design fees are $760, up from $530.

The prices for post-grant proceedings are all down: ex parte re-examination (from $17,750 to 12,000); inter partes review ($27,200 to $23,000); and post-grant review ($35,800 to $30,000). Unlike last year, there are various refunds if the requests are denied.

Companies classed as micro entities, which include universities, are entitled to 75 percent discounts on many of the fees. Small entities – inventors or companies that have filed a small number of patents – can claim 50 percent discounts in the same instances.

The America Invents Act, signed in September 2011, requires the USPTO to set fees at a level that recovers its costs. The office published proposed fee changes in September 2012 and subsequently cut some prices before revealing the final amounts this year.

The rising fees will put pressure on patent owners’ budgets, said Eldora Ellison, director at Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox PLLC.

“It will be more difficult for patent owners to work within their budgets: they will get less for money.”

“They will need to be more judicious about what they file and pick and choose what works best for them,” she said.

But the discounts for micro entities are fantastic, she said, as well as the chance to claim a refund from the three post-grant proceedings.

The new fees follow the switch from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file system last week. US lawyers told WIPR that there was a surge in patent filings before the change on March 16, as businesses uncertain of the new set up sought to take advantage of the old rules.

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk


More on this story

Patents
15 March 2013   US attorneys have been working flat out to manage a surge in patent filings ahead of Saturday’s shift to a first-to-file system.