The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is navigating a period of significant transition. Driven by workforce shifts, operational restructuring, evolving approaches to subject matter eligibility, and new fee structures,...more
Another day, another change at the USPTO. If you have ever filed a patent application, you know there is a section that asks for your entity status: Large, Small, or Micro. If you have ever asked yourself whether size...more
With the advent of claim fees in 2022, applicants must now limit the number of claims in their Canadian patent applications to avoid government fees. While cancelling claims (particularly dependent claims) is the simplest...more
In a Federal Register Notice published October 27, 2025 (“Notice”), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a new pilot program called the “Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program” (hereinafter “Pilot Program”)....more
The USPTO announced a new pilot program designed to help it efficiently reduce the backlog of unexamined patent applications. The “Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program” has an attractive incentive for participation—the promise...more
On July 17, 2024, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) launched a new electronic system and portal, MyCIPO Patents, as part of its Next Generation Patents initiative. While the platform will be extremely helpful...more
U.S. patents are currently subject to maintenance fees paid to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years from the date of grant to keep the patent live. The maintenance fees escalate over the...more
The WSJ reports the Trump administration wants to charge patent holders 1% to 5% of their patent’s value to maintain the patent after grant. If implemented, this would mark a dramatic departure from the traditional flat-fee...more
The US Department of Commerce is reportedly considering a significant overhaul of the current patent maintenance fee structure, proposing a shift from the established flat-fee system to an annual, value-based tax on patents....more
U.S. Commerce Department officials are considering whether to charge patent holders a new 1% to 5% patent fee that would be based on "overall patent value," The Wall Street Journal reported on July 28, 2025. There are no...more
The USPTO recently announced that the Accelerated Examination program will be discontinued as of July 10, 2025. Given that the program has had limited use over the past decade, with fewer than 100 Accelerated Examination...more
The European Patent Office (EPO) provides reductions to many of the official fees due during the grant procedure of a European patent application. These reductions can significantly reduce the total costs of bringing a...more
Beginning May 13, 2025, the window between paying the issue fee and your patent officially issuing will become much shorter....more
When applying for a patent application, certain entities are entitled to reduced USPTO filing fees. Applicants who qualify for small entity status can reduce many USPTO fees by 60%. Applicants who are micro entities can...more
Fish & Richardson’s 2024 Post-Grant Report takes a deep dive into the cases, trends, and statistics that shaped Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) practice throughout the year and how they might affect practitioners going...more
Patent and trademark applicants are likely to see significant changes with their applications in 2025. First, numerous fee increases have recently taken effect – on January 18 for trademark applications and January 19 for...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced changes to patent fees, which will take effect on Jan 19, 2025. Most current fees are subject to a 7.5% across-the-board increase while other fees are...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a final rule setting out patent fee increases that will come into effect on January 19, 2025. The USPTO states that costs justify an increase of 10% for...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced significant changes to trademark filing fees, which will take effect on January 18, 2025. The changes impact both new applications and post-registration maintenance...more
Along with other new and increased fees, including the surcharge for late-stage continuation applications, the United States Patent & Trademark Office published a final rule on November 20, 2024, that establishes new fees for...more
In the November 20, 2024 Federal Register Notice, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or the “Office”) released its final rule on patent fee adjustments (“Final Rule”). These fee adjustments, set to take...more
The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) issued its final rule setting and adjusting patent fees that will take effect on January 19, 2025. 89 Fed. Reg. 91898 (Nov. 20, 2024). The final rule sets or adjusts 433 patent fees...more
Fees for certain trademark filings at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will increase on January 18, 2025. Trademark owners may want to file new applications and maintain and renew current registrations before the...more
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published a final rule on November 20, 2024, that establishes a new surcharge for continuation applications filed well after their earliest benefit dates (EBDs). Beginning January 19, 2025,...more
On December 4, 2024, nearly seven months after issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposed major and controversial changes to terminal disclaimer practice, which we previously discussed in an earlier blog post, the...more