On December 29, 2022 President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 into law, which included the Unleashing American Innovators Act of 2022.  With the cost of many things continuing to rise, it may be surprising to know that the U.S. Patent Office reduced the fees for small and micro entities.  In particular, small entity discounts were increased from 50 to 60 percent and micro entity discounts were increased from 75 to 80 percent.  Before the change, a small entity would typically have $830 in USPTO filing fees for a non-provisional patent application.  However, the USPTO fees are now reduced to $664.  For a micro entity, the USPTO fees are $364.

This could have a major impact for smaller companies and startups that are seeking to build their IP portfolios.  This affects filing fees for patent applications as well as other fees during prosecution.  The changes also reduced the fees (quite significantly) associated with requests for prioritized examination.

There are no changes to large or undiscounted entity USPTO fees.  If you want to view the latest changes to the fee schedule, please see here.  There are a number of other interesting things that may be coming soon from the USPTO related to the law including the establishment of a Southeast Regional Office.

If you are interested in discussing any potential patent applications and how this could reduce your filing costs, please reach out to John Bednarz or any of our patent attorneys.