Changes Coming to US Patent Fees
On April 3rd, the USPTO published the proposed changes to patent fees for 2025. You can find information on the proposal here. The rationale behind the changes is “to provide the USPTO with sufficient aggregate revenue to recover the aggregate costs of patent operations in future years”.
In addition to funding operations, it’s hoped that the new patent fees will help reduce the time to process applications and decrease fraud.
There are a lot of updates, so we’ve captured the major ones below.
If you have feedback on the changes to the patent fees, you can leave comments for the USPTO to consider. Just go here to let them know what you think. The deadline for feedback is June 3rd.
Proposed Fee Changes
CFR section | Fee code | Description | Entity type | Current fee | Proposed fee | |
1.16(a) | 1011 | Basic filing fee—Utility (paper filing also requires non-electronic filing fee under 1.16(t)) | Undiscounted | $320 | $350 | |
1.16(a) | 2011 | Basic filing fee—Utility (paper filing also requires non-electronic filing fee under 1.16(t)) | Small | 128 | 140 | |
1.16(a) | 3011 | Basic filing fee—Utility (paper filing also requires non-electronic filing fee under 1.16(t)) | Micro | 64 | 70 | |
1.16(a) | 4011 | Basic filing fee—Utility (electronic filing for small entities) | Small | 64 | 70 | |
1.16(b) | 1012 | Basic filing fee—Design | Undiscounted | 220 | 300 | |
1.16(b) | 2012 | Basic filing fee—Design | Small | 88 | 120 | |
1.16(b) | 3012 | Basic filing fee—Design | Micro | 44 | 60 | |
1.16(b) | 2017 | Basic filing fee—Design CPA | Small | 88 | 120 | |
1.16(b) | 3017 | Basic filing fee—Design CPA | Micro | 44 | 60 | |
1.16(c) | 1013 | Basic filing fee—Plant | Undiscounted | 220 | 240 | |
1.16(c) | 2013 | Basic filing fee—Plant | Small | 88 | 96 | |
1.16(c) | 3013 | Basic filing fee—Plant | Micro | 44 | 48 | |
1.16(d) | 1005 | Provisional application filing fee | Undiscounted | 300 | 315 | |
1.16(d) | 2005 | Provisional application filing fee | Small | 120 | 126 | |
1.16(d) | 3005 | Provisional application filing fee | Micro | 60 | 63 | |
1.16(e) | 1014 | Basic filing fee—Reissue | Undiscounted | 320 | 350 | |
1.16(e) | 2014 | Basic filing fee—Reissue | Small | 128 | 140 | |
1.16(e) | 3014 | Basic filing fee—Reissue | Micro | 64 | 70 | |
1.16(e) | 1019 | Basic filing fee—Reissue (Design CPA) | Undiscounted | 320 | 350 | |
1.16(e) | 2019 | Basic filing fee—Reissue (Design CPA) | Small | 128 | 140 | |
1.16(e) | 3019 | Basic filing fee—Reissue (Design CPA) | Micro | 64 | 70 | |
1.16(f) | 1051 | Surcharge—Late filing fee, search fee, examination fee, inventor’s oath or declaration, or application filed without at least one claim or by reference | Undiscounted | 160 | 170 | |
1.16(f) | 2051 | Surcharge—Late filing fee, search fee, examination fee, inventor’s oath or declaration, or application filed without at least one claim or by reference | Small | 64 | 68 | |
1.16(f) | 3051 | Surcharge—Late filing fee, search fee, examination fee, inventor’s oath or declaration, or application filed without at least one claim or by reference | Micro | 32 | 34 | |
1.16(g) | 1052 | Surcharge—Late provisional filing fee or cover sheet | Undiscounted | 60 | 65 | |
1.16(g) | 2052 | Surcharge—Late provisional filing fee or cover sheet | Small | 24 | 26 | |
1.16(g) | 3052 | Surcharge—Late provisional filing fee or cover sheet | Micro | 12 | 13 | |
1.16(h) | 1201 | Each independent claim in excess of three | Undiscounted | 480 | 600 | |
1.16(h) | 2201 | Each independent claim in excess of three | Small | 192 | 240 | |
1.16(h) | 3201 | Each independent claim in excess of three | Micro | 96 | 120 | |
1.16(h) | 1204 | Each reissue independent claim in excess of three | Undiscounted | 480 | 600 | |
1.16(h) | 2204 | Each reissue independent claim in excess of three | Small | 192 | 240 | |
1.16(h) | 3204 | Each reissue independent claim in excess of three | Micro | 96 | 120 | |
1.16(i) | 1202 | Each claim in excess of 20 | Undiscounted | 100 | 200 | |
1.16(i) | 2202 | Each claim in excess of 20 | Small | 40 | 80 | |
1.16(i) | 3202 | Each claim in excess of 20 | Micro | 20 | 40 | |
1.16(i) | 1205 | Each reissue claim in excess of 20 | Undiscounted | 100 | 200 | |
1.16(i) | 2205 | Each reissue claim in excess of 20 | Small | 40 | 80 | |
1.16(i) | 3205 | Each reissue claim in excess of 20 | Micro | 20 | 40 | |
1.16(j) | 1203 | Multiple dependent claim | Undiscounted | 860 | 905 | |
1.16(j) | 2203 | Multiple dependent claim | Small | 344 | 362 | |
1.16(j) | 3203 | Multiple dependent claim | Micro | 172 | 181 | |
1.16(k) | 1111 | Utility search fee | Undiscounted | 700 | 770 | |
1.16(k) | 2111 | Utility search fee | Small | 280 | 308 | |
1.16(k) | 3111 | Utility search fee | Micro | 140 | 154 | |
1.16(l) | 1112 | Design search fee or Design CPA search fee | Undiscounted | 160 | 300 | |
1.16(l) | 2112 | Design search fee or Design CPA search fee | Small | 64 | 120 | |
1.16(l) | 3112 | Design search fee or Design CPA search fee | Micro | 32 | 60 | |
1.16(m) | 1113 | Plant search fee | Undiscounted | 440 | 485 | |
1.16(m) | 2113 | Plant search fee | Small | 176 | 194 | |
1.16(m) | 3113 | Plant search fee | Micro | 88 | 97 | |
1.16(n) | 1114 | Reissue search fee or Reissue (Design CPA) search fee | Undiscounted | 700 | 770 | |
1.16(n) | 2114 | Reissue search fee or Reissue (Design CPA) search fee | Small | 280 | 308 | |
1.16(n) | 3114 | Reissue search fee or Reissue (Design CPA) search fee | Micro | 140 | 154 | |
1.16(o) | 1311 | Utility examination fee | Undiscounted | 800 | 880 | |
1.16(o) | 2311 | Utility examination fee | Small | 320 | 352 | |
1.16(o) | 3311 | Utility examination fee | Micro | 160 | 176 | |
1.16(p) | 1312 | Design examination fee or Design CPA examination fee | Undiscounted | 640 | 700 | |
1.16(p) | 2312 | Design examination fee or Design CPA examination fee | Small | 256 | 280 | |
1.16(p) | 3312 | Design examination fee or Design CPA examination fee | Micro | 128 | 140 | |
1.16(q) | 1313 | Plant examination fee | Undiscounted | 660 | 725 | |
1.16(q) | 2313 | Plant examination fee | Small | 264 | 290 | |
1.16(q) | 3313 | Plant examination fee | Micro | 132 | 145 | |
1.16(r) | 1314 | Reissue examination fee or Reissue (Design CPA) examination fee | Undiscounted | 2,320 | 2,550 | |
1.16(r) | 2314 | Reissue examination fee or Reissue (Design CPA) examination fee | Small | 928 | 1,020 | |
1.16(r) | 3314 | Reissue examination fee or Reissue (Design CPA) examination fee | Micro | 464 | 510 | |
1.16(s) | 1082 | Design application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Undiscounted | 420 | 440 | |
1.16(s) | 2082 | Design application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Small | 168 | 176 | |
1.16(s) | 3082 | Design application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Micro | 84 | 88 | |
1.16(s) | 1083 | Plant application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Undiscounted | 420 | 440 | |
1.16(s) | 2083 | Plant application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Small | 168 | 176 | |
1.16(s) | 3083 | Plant application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Micro | 84 | 88 | |
1.16(s) | 1085 | Provisional application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Undiscounted | 420 | 440 | |
1.16(s) | 2085 | Provisional application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Small | 168 | 176 | |
1.16(s) | 3085 | Provisional application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Micro | 84 | 88 | |
1.16(s) | 2084 | Reissue application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Small | 168 | 176 | |
1.16(s) | 3084 | Reissue application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Micro | 84 | 88 | |
1.16(s) | 1081 | Utility application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Undiscounted | 420 | 440 | |
1.16(s) | 2081 | Utility application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Small | 168 | 176 | |
1.16(s) | 3081 | Utility application size fee—for each additional 50 sheets that exceeds 100 sheets | Micro | 84 | 88 | |
1.16(u) | 1054 | Non-DOCX Filing Surcharge Fee | Undiscounted | 400 | 420 | |
1.16(u) | 2054 | Non-DOCX Filing Surcharge Fee | Small | 160 | 168 | |
1.16(u) | 3054 | Non-DOCX Filing Surcharge Fee | Micro | 80 | 84 | |
Details on the proposed patent fees can be found here.
