2025 has been a year of breaking news, including in the intellectual property space. While AI developments and big court decisions grabbed many of the 2025 headlines, the most immediate and practical changes to U.S. trademark practice came from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). New fees and revised rules have significantly changed how U.S. trademark applications are prepared, filed, and maintained – and for brand owners and practitioners, these changes have made careful filing strategy and counseling more important than ever.
Higher, More Targeted Fees
As of January 18, 2025, the USPTO implemented one of its most consequential trademark fee restructurings in recent years. The stated goals of the fee adjustments were to encourage efficient filings (e.g., by using the ID Manual for description of goods/services wording, as detailed further below), and to ensure financial sustainability for the Office – which became particularly important during this year’s federal government shutdown, enabling the USPTO to maintain its regular operations.
As detailed in our November 2024 article, the restructuring’s key changes included increased fees for WIPO foreign applicants ($100/Class increase), intent-to-use application Statements or Allegations of Use ($50/Class increase), petitions, Letters of Protest, and post-registration maintenance and renewal filings.
One of the most significant and sweeping aspects of the restructuring is the new surcharge system tied to how applications are drafted. Applications with overly long (over 1000 characters) or overly broad descriptions of goods and services will now incur additional filing fees, as well as filings that require examiner follow-up due to “insufficient information” (e.g., failing to include a translation statement) or errors.
In practical terms, this strategy is a clear move by the USPTO to encourage precisely and carefully drafted filings to enable efficient examination and move applicants away from a “file broadly now, and narrow/refine later” filing strategy.
Shifting Strategy for Goods and Services Descriptions
One of the most immediate changes in 2025 USPTO practice has been on the selection of goods and services wording for new filings. The USPTO is now strongly encouraging applicants to adopt “pre-approved” descriptions from its Trademark ID Manual, by imposing extra fees to applications that include non-standard or overly customized descriptions.
This change has led to two key developments. First, applicants are moving towards focusing their pre-filing strategy on tailoring identifications that are both accurate and compliant. Second, examination is moving more efficiently for well-drafted applications (currently at 5.6 months to first action, down from 7.5 months in Q4 2024 – see https://www.uspto.gov/dashboard/trademarks/), while vague and inefficient filings face higher costs and longer prosecution timelines.
Increased Costs for Post-Filing Corrections
The 2025 fee schedule also increased the cost of fixing errors after filing, as amendments, corrections, and responses that previously carried little or no fee are now more expensive. This shift also reflects the USPTO’s broader policy goal – incentivizing applicants to submit complete, accurate applications the first time.
Takeaways for U.S. Trademark Owners
Although a jolt to the U.S. trademark world at their introduction, the USPTO’s 2025 updates do aim to reward preparation and penalize inefficiency. To make the most of these new practices, brand owners should consider several strategic adjustments:
- Budget additional resources for upfront trademark clearance and application drafting
- Use USPTO-approved goods and services language whenever possible
- Treat post-filing amendments as exceptions, not part of the normal workflow
Sterne Kessler’s Trademark & Brand Protection practice wish you a very happy, efficient, and productive 2026.
