Effective January 18, 2025, the USPTO rolled out fee increases that impact everything from new applications to renewals, petitions, and appeals. If you are thinking about protecting your brand, now is the time to understand how these changes could affect you.

First, all trademark applications will now have a base fee of $350 per class, replacing the old fees for TEAS Standard and Plus. But this is just the beginning of fee increases. A new $100 surcharge per class will apply if an application is missing essential details like the applicant’s name, address, or a mark description, all things that used to be fixable without extra cost. In addition, if you do not use descriptions from the USPTO Trademark ID Manual, you will face an additional $200 fee per class. If you go over 1,000 characters in your description, it will cost another $200 per every 1,000 characters.

Renewing a trademark will also come at a higher cost, with fees increasing $25 per class. Petitions for other trademark matters such as reviving an application or letters of protest will see significant increases as well, with some fees tripling in cost.

What does this mean for you? Simply put, filing a trademark is about to get pricier, and mistakes will cost even more. If you have been considering filing, we can help to make sure your application is complete and accurate to avoid unnecessary surcharges. Using standard USPTO descriptions from the Trademark ID Manual will also help to keep costs down.

These fee increases serve as a reminder that trademark law is always evolving. Staying proactive now can help you protect your brand without incurring excessive costs.

See below for a brief summary of some of the major fee changes. A full breakdown of the new fees can be found here: USPTO Trademark Fee Summary.