Innovation Asset Blog

USPTO floats trademark fee revisions

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has proposed a new set of revisions to its trademark fee structure, offering a variety of incentives for applicants who take advantage of digital filing tools.

By transitioning to a system that relies primarily on electronic communications, USPTO officials contend that they may be able to achieve a level of efficiency that enables them to reduce the overall collection of trademark fees.

The line items in question are the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) Plus and standard TEAS, which currently carry fees of $275 and $325, respectively. These could be lowered, with a possible 1 percent increase assessed to trademark applications that are exclusively paper-based.

In reality, TEAS and TEAS Plus adoption is not the issue considering 99 percent of applications come through one of these channels. However, just 76 percent of filings remain fully electronic after passing the initial stages.

Before it places a figure on the proposed discounts, the USPTO is seeking public comment regarding what may be appropriate rates or alternative solutions toward facilitating digitized, cost-effective trademark management.ADNFCR-3832-ID-800845200-ADNFCR

Peter Ackerman

Peter Ackerman

Founder & CEO, Innovation Asset Group, Inc.