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We specialize in many different areas of intellectual property protection in the United States and abroad, including: trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights, licensing, litigation, and chemical, biological, mechanical, medical, computer, and business method patents.
New Exciting Information:
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Enact New Fees
On Wednesday, December 8, 2004, President Bush signed into law a new Act entitled the Consolidations Appropriations Act. This Act changes the fee schedule used by the Patent & Trademark Office. These new fees apply to all items filed with the Patent & Trademark Office on or after December 8, 2004. A listing of the fee schedule can be seen on the USPTO website.
What about patent applications? The patent fees have changed the most significantly. First, for a small entity applicant to file a patent application, one basic filing fee of $395 was required to be filed with the application, but could be paid at a later date. Now, there are three fees required to file a patent application and must be paid at the time of filing. These three fees are 1) a basic filing fee of $150; 2) a search fee of $250; and 3) an examination fee of $100 for a total of $500 (if qualifying for small entity status). In addition, the USPTO now requires a fee of $100 per claim if the application has more than 3 independent claims; $25 per claim if the application has more than 20 total claims; and $100 per page if the application has more than 100 total pages (if qualifying for small entity status). In addition, issue fees increased by about $15.
What about maintenance of your patent(s)? The patent fees associated with the maintenance of issued patents have also changed. The fees increased approximately $5-10. For persons or companies with issued patents, the first, second, and third year maintenance fees are $450, $1150, and $1900, respectively (if qualifying for small entity status).
What about trademarks? The trademark fees will increase as of January 31, 2005. The application fee will increase to $375 per class, from $335 per class. If the application is filed electronically, which our office current does in most cases, the filing fee will be $325 per class. Please note that electronic filing will be done on most occasions, however sometimes this is not possible and a paper application must be filed. For more information click here.
For a listing of previous articles, click on Archives.
We are located at 802 West Bannock Street, Suite 405 in downtown Boise, Idaho 83702. To see a map of our location click here. Contact us toll free at 1-877-611-1122 or in the Boise area dial 345-1122. If you would prefer to contact us by mail, please send it to Post Office Bose 877 Boise, Idaho 83701.
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