The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) will be enacting several trademark fee adjustments, effective January 2, 2021. We will see significant increases in application filing fees, maintenance and renewal fees, and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) fees. The USPTO states the trademark fee adjustments will allow it “to continue to enhance the quality of trademark examination, achieve optimal examination times, invest in modernizing trademark information technology systems and infrastructure, and provide stability to USPTO operations, even in times of financial fluctuations.”

Panitch Schwarze will not be increasing its trademark professional fees in 2021.

Some notable increases to existing USPTO trademark fees include the Application filing fees increasing from $275 to $350 per class; the Declaration of Use under Section 8 or 71 increasing from $125 to $225 per class; and the TTAB Notice of Opposition or Petition to Cancel filing fee increasing from $400 to $600.

The USPTO has also created new fees, including a Request for Oral Argument, $500 per proceeding; and a Request to Delete goods/services or classes from a registration after submitting a Declaration of Use under Section 8 or 71, $250 per class. The USPTO states that it will be charging a new fee for deletions made between the filing and acceptance of the Section 8 or 71 to “improve the integrity of the register by encouraging registrants to…[d]etermine sooner the goods, services, or classes in the registration for which their registered trademark is no longer in use.”

These trademark fee adjustments could have a significant impact on trademark owners next year, and as such, we encourage our current and prospective clients to consider filing new applications and proceeding with maintenance and renewal filings before year’s end, in order to avoid incurring the increased USPTO trademark fees next year. Please contact us now at trademark@panitchlaw.com for assistance or more information.