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The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) speaks of its filing fee on its Web site: "The filing fee is $325.00 per class of goods and/or services (i.e., if an application is for one mark, but it is used for computer software in Class 9 and t-shirts in Class 25, the filing fee is $650.00)... Also, the filing fee is a processing fee for the application. This fee is NOT returned even if ultimately the USPTO does not issue a registration. You should take all necessary steps to ensure the mark is registrable before filing the application." Similar warnings appear throughout the Web site. You need to be aware of this policy and realize that the USPTO suffers no loss if it rejects your application upon initial review. In fact, it benefits from early rejection, since the cost of processing is far less for early rejections than for applications which proceed all the way to registration. You should also realize that you're dealing with lawyers for a government agency which has fairly precise rules which you are presumed to know, even if you don't or could not understand if you read them. For example, you need to know that you cannot simply substitute a new mark (for the same filing fees) for the original mark submitted if the application for the original mark is rejected. In such a case, you have to start all over again. |
