PTAB fees to rise in October
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will raise patent fees from October, amid financial pressure on the organisation stemming from COVID-19 disruption.
Most fees will increase by approximately 5%, but charges relating to post-grant opposition at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) will rise by more. The USPTO confirmed the changes in a Final Rule published on Friday, July 31.
The fee for requesting inter partes review (IPR), covering up to 20 claims, will rise from $15,500 to $19,000 for large entities (companies with 500 or more employees).
According to the USPTO, the hike in IPR fees reflects the growing cost of running IPR proceedings in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s 2018 SAS Institute ruling.
In that decision, the Supreme Court held that the PTAB had to either institute IPR on all the claims raised in a petition or none at all.
That means IPR proceedings now typically review more claims and take up more of the PTAB’s time than before.
The latest fee increases have been mooted since the USPTO began a review of costs and revenues in 2017.
But the Final Rule has arrived amid uncertainty over the office’s finances during the COVID-19 pandemic.
USPTO director Andrei Iancu has advised Congress that the office is currently relying on its reserves, after a drop-off in filing fee income.
Other fees increases include the surcharge for late payment of patent maintenance fees, which will rise from $160 to $500.
The cost of a request for expedited examination of a design application, meanwhile, will rise to $1,600 from $900.
This is the first time this fee has grown since it was introduced in November 2000. According to the USPTO, the fee rise will allow it to better cope with demand for the service, “and better align the fee with the benefit received”.
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