PTAB Trial Fees Increase 25% in October

AIA Trial Fees Increasing + New Pro Hac Fee

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is increasing Patent and Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) fees for a second time in three years.  The new fees schedule, effective October 2, 2020, incudes a new fee for non-registered practitioners to appear before the PTAB pro hac vice.  Patent reexamination and reissue fees will increase by roughly 5%. )

Most notably, the final rule, here significantly raises AIA trial fees.

With respect to IPR, the pre-institution fee of $15,500 moves to $19,000, a 23% increase.  As for the post-institution fee, that grows from $15,000 to $22,500, thus a successful institution will now require $41,500 in government fees.

PGR increases a bit more, from $16,000 pre-institution to $20,000, a 25% increase.  Post-institution grows from $22,500 to $27,000, thus a successful PGR institution will now require $47,000 in government fees.

The PTAB largely justifies the increase in costs on additional work stemming from the Supreme Court’s decision in SAS, and increased review of discretionary considerations.

As to the new pro hac vice fee of $250, the Office is implementing a fee to appear pro hac vice in an AIA trial proceeding. The non-registered practitioner fee is for each proceeding that a non-registered practitioner requests admission to practice. If a non-registered practitioner requests admission to multiple AIA trial proceedings, multiple requests and fees will be required, one for each proceeding. Once a request is granted, the counsel is admitted for the entire duration of a proceeding.  This fee is designed to cover the cost of the high number of such requests received by the Office.

Scott A. McKeown is an author of the Patents Post Grant