All payments to the USPTO must be paid in U.S. dollars for the full amount of the fee required. View the current fee amounts on the USPTO fee schedule.
Scam Alert - Read this warning about non-USPTO solicitations requesting payments that are sent by numerous companies unaffiliated with the USPTO.
Scam Alert - Read this warning about spoofed calls that impersonate the USPTO; the USPTO will never request payment information over the telephone.
Accepted payment methods
- Check or money order – make payable to "Director of the USPTO" in U.S. dollars. There is a $50 processing fee for any check returned to the USPTO unpaid. Trademark fees are not accepted by check or money order except in certain circumstances, such as a system outage. The Certified Copy Center does not accept check or money order for copy orders.
- Credit card – the USPTO accepts American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa credit cards. There is a $24,999.99 daily limit per credit card account. Individual transactions greater than $24,999.99 may not be split into two or more transactions over one or multiple days. Online payments will be declined when invalid card security codes are entered, even though they may be authorized by your card issuers. Note: We may at any time refuse credit cards associated with any fraudulent activity, including fraudulent chargebacks.
- Debit card – the USPTO accepts debit cards, including prepaid cards, which do not require the use of a PIN. There is no daily limit for debit cards. Online payments will be declined when invalid card security codes are entered, even though they may be authorized by your card issuers. Note: We may refuse at any time debit cards associated with any fraudulent activity, including fraudulent chargebacks.
- Deposit account – a prepaid account maintained in Financial Manager and funded in advance of use. A pre-authorization to charge a deposit account may be used to satisfy any deficiency in payment, thus preserving the original filing date or payment date of an application.
- Electronic funds transfer (EFT) via ACH Debit – an online account maintained in Financial Manager and settled via the ACH Network process from your U.S. bank account. All new EFT profiles are subject to an account verification process prior to first use (generally eight business days). There is a $50 processing fee for any EFT payment returned to the USPTO unpaid.
- Electronic funds transfer (EFT) via ACH Credit – made through your financial institution and processed from your U.S. bank account via the ACH Network to replenish deposit accounts only.
- Wire transfer – made through your financial institution via the Federal Reserve Fedwire system to pay patent fees or replenish deposit accounts. Trademark fees are not accepted by wire transfer.
Pay online (preferred method)
Tip: To avoid errors during online payment with a card, do not use your browser’s auto-fill features when entering any payment or address information. Instead, manually type the information in the required fields.
From the table below, select the USPTO system for which you wish to make an online payment. We accept credit cards, debit cards that do not require a PIN, deposit accounts, or EFT when paying online. Guest users can only pay with a credit or debit card, but signed in USPTO.gov account users can pay with any payment method stored in Financial Manager.
| Patents | Trademarks |
|---|---|
| Patent Center File new application or access existing application (Guest users cannot submit additional documents/fees to an existing application) | Trademark Center Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) |
| Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront View maintenance fees to maintain utility or reissue utility patents | Assignment Center Record assignment (ownership) and changes in assignment |
| Patent Trial and Appeal Case Tracking System (P-TACTS) File Patent Trial and Appeal Board documents | Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA) File Trademark Trial and Appeal Board documents |
| Patent documents Order certified copies of patents and download uncertified copies | Trademark documents Order certified copies of trademarks and download uncertified copies |
If your deadline is today and the system is unavailable, refer to the alternative payment instructions in the Pay by fax or mail section below.
Pay by fax or mail
Pay by fax or mail
Patent fees
The fax number depends on the type of payment you wish to make. We accept credit and debit card, or deposit account when paying by fax. For credit and debit card payments, include the Credit Card Payment Form.
- Frequently requested fax numbers appear in the table below. For a comprehensive listing of fax numbers, refer to the Contact us page.
| Office | Type of payment | Fax number |
|---|---|---|
| Patents Application Assistance Unit | Most patent fees (except maintenance fees) | 571-273-8300 |
| Maintenance Fee Branch | Patent maintenance fees | 571-273-6500 |
The mailing address depends on the type of payment you wish to make. We accept checks or money orders, credit and debit cards, or deposit accounts when paying by mail. For credit and debit card payments, include the Credit Card Payment Form.
- For a listing of current mailing addresses, refer to the Mailing and hand carry addresses page.
If our systems are unavailable, see Filing Patent documents during an outage or Filing PTAB documents during an outage for alternative methods to file and pay fees.
Trademark fees
You must pay trademark fees with the Financial Manager online fee payment management tool. We don’t accept fees by fax or regular mail except in certain circumstances, such as a system outage.
If our systems are unavailable, see our Filing Trademark documents during an outage or Filing TTAB documents during an outage pages for alternative methods to file and pay fees.