Effective January 17, 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is reducing filing fees for new U.S. trademark applications filed and processed electronically from $325 to $275 per class (and as low as $225 if certain strict requirements can be met), and from $400 to $300 per class for renewal applications filed and processed electronically.

One obvious strategy is to delay filing new applications and renewals until January 17, 2015.  In the case of a new application, however, the benefit of the reduced cost needs to be weighed against the potential risks of delay in filing the application.  One of these risks is that someone else will file an application for a similar mark in the interim.