On November 20, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced adjustments to its patent fees, effective January 19, 2025. This adjustment aims to provide the USPTO with sufficient funding to efficiently manage the U.S. patent system and achieve its strategic goals.

The following are details of some of the adjusted patent fees:

Patent Maintenance Fees

If you plan to submit U.S. patent applications, requests for continued examination (RCE), extension requests, or pay U.S. patent maintenance fees in the near future, please complete the relevant procedures before January 19, 2025, to save on official fees and avoid additional costs due to fee adjustments.

Background and Public Feedback

This adjustment is part of the USPTO's regular fee assessment, reflecting the impact of new discounts set for small businesses, independent inventors, and others eligible for "small entity" or "micro entity" status under the Unleashing American Innovators Act. On April 20, 2023, the USPTO published a Federal Register notice announcing its plan to adjust patent fees. On May 18, 2023, the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) held a public hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, inviting public comments. Ultimately, the USPTO considered all feedback and revised three targeted proposals.

Three Fee Changes No Longer Being Advanced

1. Introducing a new fee for After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 (AFCP 2.0) requests;
2. Targeted increases to patent term adjustment fees;
3. Introducing tiered terminal disclaimer fees.

Three Revised Fee Changes

1. Raising the time threshold for continuation applications;
2. Significantly reducing the adjusted patent term extension fees;
3. Eliminating the proposed new fee tier for third and subsequent RCE requests, and adjusting the existing fee for second and subsequent requests.

For more information on these fee adjustments, please visit the fee-setting section of the USPTO website.