Most USPTO patent fees will increase, some rather substantially, on January 16, 2018. You can see the Federal Register notice here. Here are some examples of fee increases that will take effect on that day:
| Fee | Current Large Entity Fee | New Large Entity Fee | Percent Increase |
| Forwarding an Appeal to the Board | $2,000 | $2,240 | 12% |
| Inter Partes Review Request – Up to 20 Claims | $9,000 | $15,500 | 72% |
For day-to-day practitioners the most striking increase is for design patents:
| Fee | Current Large Entity Fee | Final Rule Large Entity Fee | Percent Increase |
| Design Filing Fee | $180 | $200 | 11% |
| Design Search Fee | $120 | $160 | 33% |
| Design Examination Fee | $460 | $600 | 30% |
| Design Issue Fee | $560 | $700 | 25% |
| Total | $1,320 | $1,660 | 26% |
Almost all patent-related fees will increase on that day. These include utility patent application fees, PCT fees, and Hague Agreement fees.
From this it will be appreciated that there is an opportunity to save some money by planning ahead. If you were thinking about paying a fee on January 16, you might want to consider paying the fee a day earlier, on January 15.
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