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Final Rules for USPTO Patent Fee Changes Expected in Summer of 2017

Fish & Richardson

Authors

The period for stakeholder comments on the latest proposal of fee changes by the USPTO concluded on December 2, 2016. Per USPTO officials, a set of Final Rules is expected to be published in the Summer of 2017. The proposed rules include some significant increases, some of which are included below. A full list of the proposed changes can be found here.

Post-Grant Procedures:

  • Inter Partes Review Request Fee (up to 20 claims) has a proposed increase to $14,000, an increase of $5,000;
  • Inter Partes Review Post-Institution Fee (up to 15 claims) has a proposed increase to $16,500, an increase of $2,500;
  • Post-Grant or Covered Business Method (CBM) Review Request Fee (up to 20 claims) has a proposed increase to $16,000, an increase of $4,000; and
  • Post-Grant or Covered Business Method Review Post-Institution Fee (up to 15 claims) has a proposed increase to $22,000, an increase of $4,000.

Utility and Design Filings:

  • Large entity utility filing, searching, and examination fee rates are proposed to increase to $300 (+$20), $660 (+$60), and $760 (+$40) respectively.
  • Large entity design filing, searching, and examination fee rates are proposed to increase to $200 (+$20), $160 (+$40), and $600 (+$140), respectively.
  • Discounts for small and micro entities will remain available.

RCE Fees:

  • The large entity fee for the first RCE request has a proposed increase to $1,300, an increase of $100.
  • 2nd and subsequent RCEs have proposed increases to $1,900, an increase of $200.

Information Disclosure Statement Filings:

  • Large entity fees are proposed to increase to $240, an increase of $80.

PTAB-Related Appeals:

  • The large entity cost of filing a Notice of Appeal has increased $200 to $1,000.
  • Forwarding an Appeal in an Application or Ex Parte Reexamination to the PTAB Board has increased $500 to $2,500 for large entities.