Trademark Fee Changes at the USPTO: Increased Costs for New Application Filing Fees

We previously reported that on January 18, 2025, the USPTO implemented its new fee schedule, setting certain new fees and raising some existing ones. Now that the fees have been in place for a while, this Client Alert is to highlight the new fees that can arise when filing a new application. In particular, practitioners and owners should be aware of additional potential fees for descriptions of goods and services that are (1) written in freeform rather than pursuant to the Trademark ID Manual, and (2) exceed 1,000 characters that the USPTO will charge when filing an application.

Currently, the “freeform text entry” fee and the “exceeding 1,000 characters” fee apply only to applications filed based on 1) actual use of the mark, 2) an intent-to-use the mark or 3) a foreign national application. The potential new fees do not currently apply to requests for protection in the U.S. under the Madrid Protocol.

1. Freeform Text Entry

First, the USPTO implemented a new fee when an Applicant identifies its goods and services in a freeform text box, rather than using the exact description of goods and services from the USPTO’s official Trademark ID Manual. This fee is $200 per class of goods or services.

Practitioners and owners will encounter this fee when the desired goods or services to be included in the application are not exactly defined in the Trademark ID Manual. If the precise wording from the Trademark ID Manual is not used (if it even deviates by one (1) word), the USPTO will charge this fee.

Practitioners and foreign trademark owners will also encounter this fee when filing an application based on a foreign national application, where the base foreign application contains a list of goods and services that are not found in the Trademark ID Manual. The cost in applicable legal services fees to revise the goods and services in the foreign base application to comply with the descriptions in the Trademark ID Manual will in most instances be higher than the $200 freeform text fee; therefore, it is more economical to pay the freeform text fee in this instance. It may also be possible for repeat filers to develop a compliant standard goods and services description to avoid the additional fee.

2. Exceeding 1,000 Characters in Freeform Text

Second, the USPTO implemented a new fee when a description of goods and services exceeds 1,000 characters when written in freeform. In addition to letters, the USPTO also counts punctuation and spaces in the character count. This fee is also an additional $200 per class of goods and services.

To avoid this fee, Applicants should limit the goods and services in a freeform description to just the most crucial. Further, for U.S. applications based on a foreign national application, Applicants should consider deleting descriptions of goods and services as they appear in the base foreign application when those descriptions exceed 1,000 characters and include repetitive wording.

In short, it is important to be aware of all of the intricacies of the USPTO’s new filing fee structure, in particular these two components that can easily double the cost of filing a new application. Trademark practitioners and clients should discuss these fees, and which ones, if any, can be avoided when filing a new trademark application.

For assistance with the registration of trademarks or advice on protection and licensing of intellectual property, please reach out to your Quarles attorney or:

• Kelly Williams: (202)780-2655 / kelly.williams2@quarles.com
• Grace Stewart: (608) 283-2656 / grace.stewart@quarles.com