Patent Maintenance Fees

What Patent Owners Need to Know

Patent maintenance fees (also known as renewal fees or patent annuities) are periodic fees that must be paid to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to keep an issued utility patent in force. In the U.S., a utility patent’s term is generally 20 years from the application’s filing date, but maintaining patent rights for that full term requires paying maintenance fees at designated times. These fees do not apply to pending applications or to design patents or plant patents, which have no maintenance fees. For business owners and inventors, understanding and paying maintenance fees on time is critical. Failing to pay can result in a patent lapsing (expiring early), which means losing exclusive patent rights and allowing the invention to enter the public domain.

This article provides an overview of U.S. patent maintenance fees, including the payment schedule, grace periods, fee amounts, and what happens if a payment is missed.

What Are Patent Maintenance Fees?

Patent maintenance fees are mandatory fees required by law to keep a granted U.S. utility patent in effect after issuance. Unlike one-time filing, search, and examination fees paid during the patent application process, maintenance fees are renewal fees paid after the patent is granted, at set intervals, to maintain the patent’s enforceability. The USPTO collects these fees under authority of federal statute 35 U.S.C. § 41 and regulations. Maintenance fees were introduced to prevent patents from remaining in force if the owner is no longer interested in them, and to help fund the patent system.

Patent owners or their representatives must ensure the required fees are paid on time, otherwise the patent will expire for non-payment. Importantly, only issued utility patents and reissue patents are subject to maintenance fees. Design or plant patents do not require maintenance fee payments. No maintenance fees are due while a patent application is pending. Fees are only triggered after the patent is granted. In essence, maintenance fees are the U.S. patent system’s “patent renewal” mechanism, analogous to patent annuities in other countries, required to keep patent rights in force.

The Fee Schedule - When Are Patent Maintenance Fees Due?

U.S. patent law specifies three maintenance fee due stages during a utility patent’s life. Under 35 U.S.C. § 41(b), maintenance fees on an issued utility patent are due at 3.5 years, 7.5 years, and 11.5 years after the patent’s grant measured from the issue date. The USPTO rules provide a payment window for each due stage: a fee can be paid without surcharge in the six-month window before each due date. In other words, the USPTO opens the window for paying the fee six months early at 3 years, 7 years, and 11 years after issue. Paying before the window opens (i.e., too early) is not permitted, so patent owners cannot “pay early” years in advance.

Grace Period

If the fee is not paid by the exact due date, there is a 6-month grace period after the due date during which the fee can still be paid, albeit with an additional required surcharge. For example, if a 3.5-year maintenance fee is due and missed, the patent owner can still pay it during the ensuing six months (3.5 to 4 years after grant) by including the prescribed surcharge. The current USPTO fee schedule sets the surcharge for late payment within the grace period at a fixed amount (e.g., $160 for large entities). Importantly, once the six-month grace period passes, the window to pay that maintenance fee closes and the patent will lapse.

Lapse for Non-Payment

Failure to pay a required maintenance fee by the end of the six-month grace period has serious consequences. By law, the patent expires as of the end of that grace period if the maintenance fee and any surcharge hasn’t been paid in full. In practical terms, missing a maintenance fee deadline plus grace period causes the patent to lapse, meaning it is no longer enforceable and the invention is effectively dedicated to the public domain.

The USPTO will list the patent as expired for failure to pay maintenance fees, and any patent rights are lost as of the lapse date. No further “extensions” beyond the 6-month grace are available as a matter of right. A patent owner must act before the grace period ends to avoid expiration. It’s worth noting that a maintenance fee payment that is insufficient (e.g. paying the small entity amount when the patent owner did not qualify for that status) will not be considered a proper payment. An underpayment or incorrect payment that isn’t corrected in time can therefore result in an unintended lapse, just as if no fee were paid.

Patent owners should also be aware that maintenance fee deadlines falling on a weekend or federal holiday are effectively extended to the next business day for payment purposes, but the patent’s expiration is still determined by the statutory deadline. So missing the next business day will cause the patent to expire as of the original deadline. In short, missing a maintenance fee deadline is a critical issue, the patent is deemed abandoned or expired for non-payment, and the owner’s patent rights cease.

Reinstating an Expired Patent (Late Payment after Lapse)

If a patent expires due to failure to pay maintenance fees, all is not necessarily lost. However, reinstating the patent is subject to strict standards. U.S. law provides that an expired patent may be revived only if the delay in paying the maintenance fee is shown to have been “unintentional” or “unavoidable” on the part of the patent owner. The patent owner (or an authorized agent) must file a formal petition with the USPTO to accept the delayed maintenance fee under 35 U.S.C. § 41(c) and 37 C.F.R. § 1.378.

Petition to Revive

This petition requires: (1) payment of the required maintenance fee, (2) payment of a petition fee for delayed maintenance , and (3) a statement that the entire delay was unintentional on the part of the patent owner. The petition must be signed by a responsible party such as the patent owner or a registered patent attorney; if there are joint inventors or an assignee of record, those parties must be properly identified in the petition. Critically, “unintentional delay” has a strict legal meaning: it cannot include any deliberate decision or intentional choice not to pay.

The federal courts has made clear that a patent owner who consciously chose not to pay a maintenance fee (e.g., believing the patent had no value at the time) cannot later claim the delay was unintentional. In In re Rembrandt Techs. LP Patent Litigation, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61771 (D. Del., June 29, 2009), the court refused revival where the patentee intentionally let the patent lapse and only later changed their mind. Similarly, in Network Signatures, Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 731 F.3d 1239 (Fed. Cir. 2013), the court affirmed that the “unintentional” standard does not cover deliberate non-payment decisions.

If the USPTO grants the petition and accepts the late payment, the patent can be reinstated, but any intervening rights that arose during the lapse period may limit enforcement against third parties, and in some cases, substantial delay in seeking revival can complicate matters. Because revival is not guaranteed and involves additional costs and legal procedure, the best practice is to pay maintenance fees timely and avoid lapse.

Maintenance Fee Amounts: Large, Small, and Micro Entities

The dollar amount of each maintenance fee depends on the patent owner’s entity status. To account for the needs of independent inventors, small businesses, and nonprofits, Congress created a discounted fee schedule for “small entities,” and an even lower rate for “micro entities.” Large entity (undiscounted) fees are the standard amounts set by the USPTO, which are periodically adjusted for inflation.

Small Entity Status

A small entity, defined by USPTO rules as a business with no more than 500 employees, an independent inventor, or a nonprofit organization, not obligated to license or assign the invention to a large entity, pays 50% of the large entity fee for most patent fees, including maintenance fees.

Micro Entity Status

A micro entity, a subset of small entities, typically an inventor who has filed only a few patents and has a limited income, or who qualifies via a university affiliation per 35 U.S.C. § 123, enjoys a 75% fee reduction, paying only 25% of the large entity USPTO fees. For example, as of the current USPTO fee schedule, the first maintenance fee (due at 3.5 years) is $2,150 for a large entity, $860 for a small entity, and $430 for a micro entity.

United States Patent and Trademark Office Fee Schedule

The USPTO’s fee schedule is subject to change. Fees are generally adjusted annually under 35 U.S.C. § 41(f) for inflation. Patent owners should consult the current USPTO fee schedule to know the exact fee amounts due. It is crucial to pay the correct amount according to your entity status. Paying the small or micro entity fee when not actually eligible for such status can lead to the lapse of the patent. Deliberately misrepresenting one’s status to pay a lower fee could be deemed fraud on the USPTO.

Indeed, the Federal Circuit has held that intentionally paying small-entity fees despite not qualifying can constitute inequitable conduct, rendering the patent unenforceable. Thus, patent owners must verify their entity status before paying, and if a company grows or an ownership or licensing change occurs, the status should be updated before the next fee is paid. If a fee was accidentally underpaid due to status error, the USPTO allows a late deficiency payment with a surcharge to correct it, if done timely.

How to Pay Patent Maintenance Fees

The USPTO provides several methods for paying maintenance fees, and patent owners can choose the most convenient option. The preferred method is to pay online via the USPTO’s Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront – an online payment portal where one can look up the patent by number and submit payment electronically. Online payment can be made by credit/debit card, electronic funds transfer (EFT), or through a USPTO deposit account.

Notably, the USPTO advises not to use the regular patent filing system (EFS-Web) for maintenance fee payments. There is a dedicated fee payment portal for maintenance fee payments, or other methods can be used. To successfully pay a maintenance fee, you must provide both the patent number and the corresponding application number with your payment so that the USPTO can accurately apply the fee to the correct patent record. For a reissue patent, you would provide the reissue patent/application numbers as well.

Other acceptable payment methods include: wire transfer via the Federal Reserve Fedwire system, with required information like the patent number, application number, and fee amount noted in the transfer; payment by fax using a credit card payment form and Maintenance Fee transmittal form faxed to the USPTO; and payment by mail with the forms and payment sent to the USPTO’s Office of Maintenance Fees in Alexandria, Virginia. Note that if paying by mail, the “payment date” is the date the USPTO receives the payment, unless a Certificate of Mailing or USPS Priority Mail Express procedure is properly used per 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.8 or 1.10. Whichever method is used, it’s wise to make the payment a bit ahead of the deadline to allow for processing time and to verify the fee was received.

Many patent owners use patent attorneys, law firms, or specialized annuity payment services to handle maintenance fee payments on their behalf, ensuring deadlines are not missed. In fact, any person or entity can pay the maintenance fee on behalf of the patent owner. It does not have to be the inventor or owner themselves, as long as the fee is properly submitted. The key is that the fee is paid timely and in full.

The USPTO sends courtesy reminders to official correspondence address for the patent file, and it does publish notices of upcoming maintenance fee due dates and expirations. Also, the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront allows users to check a patent’s status, see upcoming payment window dates and due dates, and even download a maintenance fee statement showing the payment history. There is sufficient information provided by the USPTO to make timely maintenance fee payments. However, they are still easy to miss due to the distant deadlines. Memory fades, and so patent owners must stay vigilant about their patent maintenance fees.

The USPTO’s Official Gazette also regularly lists patents with fees due and patents that have expired for failure to pay. Business owners should keep their own docket or calendar of maintenance fee due dates and the start of each payment window. Setting reminders well in advance of due dates can help avoid inadvertent lapses. Using the USPTO’s online lookup or engaging a law firm’s docketing services are effective ways to track and ensure maintenance fees are paid in a timely fashion. The relatively additional costs of paying these fees are small compared to the serious consequences of losing a patent, so maintaining diligence is crucial.

Conclusion

Every patent owner needs to be aware of their patent maintenance fee schedule. To ensure your patent rights remain in force for the patent’s full term, you must know when fees are due, the applicable grace periods, and the proper payment procedures. Always be mindful of your entity status (large, small, or micro) and pay the correct fee. Missing a maintenance fee can cause a patent to expire early, cutting off your rights. A lapsed patent might be revived via petition if the delay was unintentional. However, revival is not provided as a matter of right and the process is costly.

In summary, treat maintenance fee deadlines with the same importance as the original patent filing. Timely payment of these fees will protect your investment in the patent and preserve the exclusive rights granted by the USPTO.

If you need assistance with patents or other intellectual property matters, contact our office for a consultation with one of our experienced patent attorneys.

© 2025 Sierra IP Law, PC. The information provided herein does not constitute legal advice, but merely conveys general information that may be beneficial to the public, and should not be viewed as a substitute for legal consultation in a particular case.