Fee Setting Authority to be Exercised in 2017

The USPTO discussed its first ever fee increase under the fee setting authority of the America Invents Act (AIA) in November of 2015.  At the time, an initial proposal was provided to the Public Patent Advisory Committee (PPAC) for review.  While the hope was to have the proposed fee adjustments take effect on October 1, 2016 (start of FY 2017), significant stakeholder feedback and considerations have, understandably, slowed the rule making process.

Prior to the close of 2016, a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) issued requesting comments from the public on proposed fee increases for post-grant patent proceedings, including AIA trials.  With comments collected last month, a Final Rule Notice is imminent.

Expected Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) fee increases include:
fees
(USPTO fee setting page (including pubic comments is found (here)1. IPR fees will increase from $23,000 to $30,500      (Request increases $5k, Institution increase $2.5K)
2. PGR/CBM fees will increase from $30,000 to $38,000    (Request increase $4k, Institution increase $6K)
3. Appeal to the PTAB from ex parte proceeding will increase from $2800 to $3500 (Notice of appeal + appeal forwarding (large entity)) Factoring in the fee for an oral argument (large entity $1300), that could include a total of $4800 in government fees for a large entity.

Notable fee decreases:
1. Ex parte reexamination requests that are less than 40 pages are discounted 50% relative to existing fees, which remain unchanged.

Notable increase in prosecution fees
1. +$100 (large entity) +$50 (small entity) +$25 (mico entity) for first RCE ($200/$100/$50 for subsequent RCE)
2. IDS increases of ($60/$30/$15) for large, small and micro entities, respectively.