Trademark fees
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Filing cost will be set at $ 245 under a proposal from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published in the July 21 Federal Register. The proposed increase is due to an "expected funding shortfall" for the office's trademark operations in fiscal 1994. The proposal for a trademark fee increase is in accordance with HR 2632, which, if enacted, would allow the PTO commissioner to increase a trademark filing fee without regard to fluctuations in the Consumer Price Index over the last 12 months. PTO will not adjust any other fees even though its FY 1994 operating expenses are some $ 21 mil. less than planned, the notice explains. The existing fee schedule, as well as the proposed trademark adjustment, would recover $ 518.7 mil. in FY 1994 for PTO. Comments on the proposed increase are due to PTO by Aug. 20.