Patent fees have been lowered for small and micro entities, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s new fee schedule that took effect at the end of 2022. President Joe Biden recently signed two new laws, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 and the Unleashing American Innovators Act of 2022, which resulted in the reduced fees, Cassie J. Edgar wrote in a blog post for McKee, Voorhees and Sease PLC. The laws increased small entity discounts from 50% to 60% and micro entity discounts from 75% to 80%. Edgar writes that the new laws lower a barrier for small and micro businesses to entering the market and contribute to the patent office’s goal of quadrupling the number of U.S. inventors. More information on the new fee schedule is available at uspto.gov.
