USPTO Fees Scheduled to Increase

Editor's Note: The USPTO subsequently cancelled this scheduled fee increase. See our Bulletin of October 2, 2006.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently published a notice in the Federal Register to the effect that official fees at the USPTO are proposed to increase by 3.5% on October 1, 2006. The reason given for the increase is to "reflect fluctuations occurring during the twelve-month period from October 1, 2005, through September 30, 2006, in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)". The Office of Management and Budget has advised the USPTO that the USPTO should use CPI-U data, as determined by the Secretary of Labor, to calculate the fee increases. The Administration's projected CPI-U for the twelve-month period ending September 30, 2006 is 3.5 percent and therefore patent statutory fees are proposed to be adjusted by 3.5 percent. Before the final fee amounts are published, the fee amounts may be adjusted based on actual fluctuations in the CPI-U published by the Secretary of Labor.

The proposed fees are rounded to yield convenient to use amounts, for example, to the closest $10 for fees exceeding $100 and to a even amount for fees under $100.

If you want to comment on these proposed increases, the deadline date for filing comments is July 5, 2005. The notice in the Federal Register explains how to submit comments.