Fees & payment FAQs

Individual transactions greater than $24,999.99 may not be split into two or more transactions over one or multiple days. Splitting an amount owed greater than $24,999.99 into several payment transactions using one or multiple cards violates the credit card network and the Department of the Treasury rules.

Existing alternatives for submitting large dollar payments are debit card, deposit account, electronic funds transfer (EFT) on uspto.gov, and wire transfer.

When you pay multiple fees at once, the transaction will appear as one entry on your credit/debit card statement. Your itemized receipt will include details about fees paid, patent/application number, and attorney docket number. You can also retrieve transaction details in Financial Manager.

No. You must specify the amount to be charged to your credit or debit card for each payment transaction. The USPTO will not accept a general authorization to charge fees to a credit or debit card; this option is available for deposit accounts only.

Yes. Currently, you may pay patent maintenance fees, most patent and trademark fees, and fees for ordering copies of documents electronically via uspto.gov. Online payment methods available on uspto.gov include credit or debit card, deposit account, or electronic funds transfer (EFT). Visit the Fees and Payment page to access resources for filing and paying online and for payment information.

Most fees can be paid with a credit or debit card using Online Services at uspto.gov. For credit or debit card payments submitted outside of uspto.gov (i.e., fax, mail, or hand-delivery), use the Credit Card Payment Form (PTO-2038). If the credit or debit card number appears on any form or document other than the PTO-2038, the USPTO will not be liable in the event the credit or debit card number becomes public knowledge. (See 37 CFR 1.23(b).)

Due to the Department of the Treasury rules, cards are only available for fee payments. Replenishments are not considered fee payments as there has not been an exchange of goods or services.

Visit the Deposit Account Rules and Information page for more information.

You may make replenishments to your deposit account as often as you like using one of four replenishment payment options offered by the USPTO. Visit the Deposit Account Replenishment Options page for more information.

For the convenience of attorneys, agents and the general public in paying fees for products and services, pre-paid deposit accounts may be established with the USPTO. This eliminates the need to submit a check, credit card, or other payment type each time a fee is required. Further, in an instance of miscalculation of a fee due, the balance required may be charged to the account with authorization, thus preserving the filing date of the application.

For EFT and debit card transactions, the USPTO transmits the patent/application/registration/order number to your financial institution. Please contact your financial institution for more details. For credit card transactions, you must have a corporate or purchase credit card for the patent/application/registration/order number to appear on your monthly statement.

Please contact your credit card company for details.

Financial Manager provides access to transaction history information for all transactions completed at the USPTO. In Financial Manager, you can:

1. Store and manage electronic payment methods online (i.e. credit/debit cards, deposit accounts, and EFTs);
2. Add users and assign user permissions to your stored payment methods;
3. View, download, and print monthly statements for each stored payment method; and
4. View, download, and print customized transaction reports.

To submit EFT payments at the USPTO, you'll need to first set up your EFT in Financial Manager. Once you've set up the EFT in Financial Manager, you can add other user from your organization and grant them permission to access and/or manage the EFT. Each user with Fee Payer permission for the EFT will need to create their own, unique EFT profile name and password in Financial Manager in order to use the EFT for payment.

New EFTs are subject to an eight day verification process. Once the EFT has been verified, you will receive an e-mail from the USPTO indicating that your EFT has been activated and may be used to pay fees online.

Please verify with your financial institution that EFT payments can be processed through your checking or savings account before creating an EFT. If you have an ACH/EFT block or filter on your account, your account must be set up properly and you must provide your financial institution with the USPTO's ACH company ID number before submitting EFT payments online. The USPTO's ACH company ID number is 1310000101 .

All checks, cashier's checks, or money orders must be made payable to "Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office". (See 37 CFR 1.23(a).)

As of June 1, 2015, there is a $24,999.99 daily limit per credit card account. There is no daily limit for debit cards.

All credit card and debit card payments are processed through the Department of the Treasury's Pay.gov system. The daily limit for credit cards is automatically enforced through the Pay.gov system. If cardholders exceed the daily limit, a message indicates that the maximum daily limit has been reached and the payment will be rejected.

Related FAQs:

• How do I make an EFT payment via uspto.gov?
• How do I send a wire payment to the USPTO?

The USPTO accepts American Express®, Discover®, MasterCard®, and Visa® credit cards and MasterCard® and Visa® branded debit cards.

Information is available on the Accepted Payment Methods page.

Yes, the benefits of paying fees electronically via uspto.gov are: eliminates the hassle of writing checks; saves on postage and mailing expenses; avoids late payments; and reduces delays in processing the payments.