Updated Trademark Filing Fees for 2025 and What It Means for Business Owners
As a business owner, securing the rights to own your brand through trademark protection is crucial, especially if you're serious about growing and scaling your business in 2025. A registered trademark not only gives you the legal right to own your brand name, it legitimizes your business and is proven to increase business revenue. Trademarks enable business owners to market on a larger scale, prevent infringers, and take advantage of licensing opportunities. Without adequate trademark protection, businesses leave themselves vulnerable to lawsuits, fines, and forced rebranding.
With this in mind, it’s important to know that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is instating significant fee increases to file trademark applications beginning January 18, 2025. Therefore, the last day to file before incurring the increased costs is January 17, 2025. Filing by January 17 will save business owners a minimum of $100, but this multiplies based on the scope of their desired trademark protection and the nature of what their business offers.
On average, most applicants will save between $400-800 by filing their trademark application by January 17, 2025.
What this means for business owners
The higher costs are a significant reason to file before January 18, 2025. As stated, applicants filing after January 17 will pay an additional $100-200 more for their application fees than those filing prior, if not more.
The changes will most greatly impact businesses who offer complex goods or services, and businesses with offerings that span multiple classes.
Submitting an application before January 18, 2025, is not only key to avoiding substantial fee increases. In addition to saving money, it will set a new tone for your business in 2025, empowering you to grow, scale, and build your business with the peace of mind that comes with owning your business name.
To learn more about the fee changes in greater detail, continue reading below.
USPTO 2025 fee change specifics:
Increased administrative filing fees are nothing new. The USPTO last updated its fees in 2020 and regularly does so to align with stated goals within the organization such as increased efficiency, and to keep up with inflation.
Existing fee structure:
To understand the updated fee structure, we must first get familiar with the existing fee structure.
Currently, applicants choose between a two-tiered filing system:
TEAS Plus: $250 per class
TEAS Standard: $350 per class
“TEAS” stands for Trademark Electronic Application System.
TEAS Plus, the cheaper and simpler option, requires applicants to define their products using the USPTO’s ID Manual, which offers standardized descriptions of goods and services. TEAS Plus is limited to common or typical goods or services for which a valid ID Manual definition exists.
The ID Manual cannot describe more novel or innovative products. In these cases, applicants are required to type their own free-form descriptions under TEAS Standard. This option is ideal for novel or complex products or products in niche industries that do not adhere to ID Manual’s descriptions.
New fee structure:
Base application: $350 per class
Typing free form description: additional $200 per class (plus $200 if description exceeds 1,000 words)
Inaccurate use of ID Manual definition: $100 penalty per class
As of January 18, 2025, the two-tiered system will be eradicated in favor a default “base application.” The base application essentially functions as TEAS Plus with TEAS Standard pricing, requiring applicants to select ID Manual definitions by default.
Applicants whose goods or services do not adhere to the ID Manual’s standardized definitions (those that would opt for TEAS Standard under the current system), can submit a free-form description for an additional $200 penalty. Descriptions exceeding 1,000 words will be subject to additional $200 penalties per additional 1,000 words.
If an applicant opts to use the ID Manual, and the USPTO determines that the standardized description does not accurately define the good or service, it will issue a $100 penalty.
It is important to note that these application fees are per class, not per filing. If your business offers various goods or services that span several classifications, the administrative costs are multiplied. To illustrate, a business selling clothing (class 025), jewelry (class 014), and operating an online store (class 035), will be subject to a $1,050 filing fee using the base application. In contrast, this same business would pay $750 in filing fees under the current system before January 18, 2025.
