by Dennis Crouch
Reminder - A new fee schedule begins October 5, 2012 that raises patent fees by 0–3% depending upon the fee. Thus, the issue fee for a utility patent is moving upward from $1,740 to $1,770, for example. This fee increase is designed to to account for inflation.
- Current Fees: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/qs/ope/fee092611.htm
- New Fees: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/qs/ope/fee100512.htm
This is a relatively minor change in fees and the fee structure. A much more substantial change will be implemented in the coming months (likely early 2013) once the USPTO finalizes its rules on AIA fee implementation. At that time, the micro entity fee discount will also become effective.
This article on the Golden Week holidays in China reminded me of the fee increases for some reason:
link to telegraph.co.uk
it was a generous decision by Chinese politicians to grant free road travel, by suspending motorway tolls, that saw hundreds of thousands of drivers spend the first day of the Mid-Autumn Festival on Sunday in gridlock ….
… the Beijing News urged the public to put the problems into context. “It is understandable that people feel resentment because they are stuck on the first day of the holidays. But there is no need to overreact. Travel is always difficult at the beginning of the holidays,” it wrote.
The USPTO might want to crib from that language when the backlog starts growing again. 😉