A small business seeking a U.S. trademark has reason to look beyond the headline that fees are changing. The Patent and Trademark Office’s October 21, 2016 final rule distinguishes paper applications from several electronic options. Effective January 14, 2017, the schedule makes the method of filing an important part of the bill, rather than imposing one price on every applicant. [2016-25506]

The May 27 proposal explains the agency’s cost argument: fees should recover estimated trademark-operation costs while encouraging more efficient processing. October’s final rule says paper processing is generally more expensive and that electronic filers subsidize much of it under existing fees. That is the agency’s rationale for changing incentives, not an independent finding about what a particular small business can afford. [2016-25506][2016-12571]

The final section 2.6 schedule lists initial applications at $600 per class on paper and $400 per class through regular TEAS, the Trademark Electronic Application System. TEAS Reduced Fee and TEAS Plus applications are listed at $275 and $225 per class, respectively, under their specified requirements. The agency explains that regular TEAS does not require the same commitment to electronic communications throughout prosecution. [2016-25506]

Our practical reading is that access depends on understanding both the fee and the obligations attached to the route. A lower listed price is not an unconditional discount, and a per-class charge is not a complete budget for every subsequent filing. The proposal and final rule are one policy chain. Their efficiency aims do not establish that applicants already saved money or received quicker decisions. [2016-25506][2016-12571]

Source documents

  1. Trademark Fee Adjustmenthttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-10-21/html/2016-25506.htm
  2. Trademark Fee Adjustmenthttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-05-27/html/2016-12571.htm