The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has finalized new fees for continuation (CON) patent applications, effective January 19, 2025. These fees include $2,700 for CONs filed more than six years after the earliest claimed priority date ($1,080 for small entity applicants) and $4,000 for those filed more than eight years after the earliest claimed priority date ($1,600 for small entity applicants). These new fees will increase the cost of filing CONs by 148.35% for applications filed more than 6 years after the earliest priority date and 219.78% for applications filed more than 9 years after the earliest priority date.
CONs are essentially “child” applications that leverage the same subject matter and patent documentation as an earlier parent filing but claim the disclosed technology in broader or different ways than the original parent filing. CONs are valuable tools for expanding patent protection while leveraging the same disclosure as the parent application. To minimize the impact of these fee increases, clients with patent families older than six years should consider filing placeholder CON applications before the new fee structure takes effect on January 19, 2025. Placeholder CONs will be entitled to the old fee structure, but applicants will have additional time to determine a claim strategy for the new CON applications.
