Usa, Taxes

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office fees will increase substantially in 2005 upon passage of the 2005 general budget act. The basic filing fee will increase from $790 to $1000, for large entities, due and payable at the time of filing. Extra claim fees are being increased also. Each independent claim in excess of three will incur a surcharge of $200 and each total claim in excess of 20 will incur a surcharge of $50. Patent applications over 100 pages in length will now incur a surcharge of $250 for each 50 pages over the first 100. Such fees can be reduced by half for small entities.