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USPTO Publishes Two New Patent Fee Rules
Practical Law Legal Update 2-521-2388 (Approx. 3 pages)
USPTO Publishes Two New Patent Fee Rules
by PLC Intellectual Property & Technology
| Published on 06 Sep 2012 • USA (National/Federal) |
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has published two new rules, one proposed and one final, to set and adjust patent fees.
The USPTO has published two new notices to set and adjust patent fees:
- On August 29, 2012, a notice of proposed rulemaking to set or adjust patent fees.
- On August 31, 2012, a final rule to adjust certain patent fee amounts for fiscal year 2013 to reflect fluctuations in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Proposed Rule
The proposed rule was officially published in the Federal Register on September 6, 2012. The USPTO is proposing to set or adjust 352 fees under Section 10 of the America Invents Act (AIA). Although this rule would result in some fee increases, the routine fee to obtain a patent would decrease by 22%. These routine fees include filing, search, examination, publication and issue fees. The proposed rule specifically affects:
- Ninety-four large entity fees, 66 of which are being adjusted, 19 set at existing fee amounts and nine newly proposed.
- Ninety-four small entity fees, 80 of which are being adjusted, five set at existing fee amounts and nine newly proposed.
- Ninety-three new micro entity fees being set at a reduction of 75% from the large entity fee amounts.
- Seventy-one non entity-specific fees, six of which are either being adjusted or set as new fees and 65 set at existing fee amounts.
The proposed rule includes detailed tables outlining current fees, proposed fees and the dollar change for these various applications and actions.
The USPTO is accepting comments on this proposed rule via e-mail and postal mail. These written comments must be received by November 5, 2012.
Final Rule
The official final rule was published in the Federal Register on September 5, 2012 and adjusts certain patent fee amounts for fiscal year 2013 to reflect fluctuations in the CPI. In this rule, the USPTO describes the fees that will be adjusted and how the adjustment was calculated based on the current fluctuation in the CPI during the 12 months preceding this notice. The rule affects:
- National application filing and examination fees under Section 1.16 of Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
- Patent application and reexamination processing fees under Section 1.17 of Title 37 of the CFR.
- Patent post allowance and issue fees under Section 1.18 of Title 37 of the CFR.
- Post issuance fees under Section 1.20 of Title 37 of the CFR.
- National stage fees under Section 1.492 of Title 37 of the CFR.
- Appeal fees under Section 41.20 of Title 37 of the CFR.
The USPTO's notice includes a table detailing affected fee titles, current fee amounts, new fee amounts and fee adjustments. This final rule becomes effective on October 5, 2012.