Maintenance fees are required to keep in force all utility and reissue utility patents based on applications filed on or after December 12, 1980. Maintenance fees are not required for a design or plant patent, or for statutory invention registrations.
Quick links: Pay maintenance fees View current fee amounts
Pay the maintenance fee
Pay now - Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront
Who can pay?
Maintenance fees and any necessary surcharges may be paid by the patentee or by any person or organization on behalf of a patentee.
What to include with payment?
You must include both the patent number and corresponding application number with your maintenance fee payment. For a reissue patent number, include the reissue application number.
If you have a change in entity status, make sure this is processed before attempting to pay online. If you are paying by fax or mail, submit your entity status request along with your maintenance fee payment.
How much to pay?
View the current fee amounts on the USPTO Fee Schedule. When you pay online, the fees due are automatically calculated based on the current entity status on file for your patent. Visit the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront to view the fees due for your patent.
When to pay?
You may pay without surcharge at 3 to 3.5 years, 7 to 7.5 years, and 11 to 11.5 years after the date of issue. You cannot pay early. You may also pay with a surcharge during the "grace periods" at 3.5 to 4 years, 7.5 to 8 years, and 11.5 to 12 years after the date of issue. Visit the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront to view the payment window dates for your patent.
A maintenance fee and any necessary surcharge must be submitted in the amount due on the date the maintenance fee and any necessary surcharge are paid. Payment of less than the required amount will not constitute payment of a maintenance fee or surcharge on a patent. If the last day for paying a maintenance fee without surcharge, or the last day for paying a maintenance fee with surcharge, falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a federal holiday, the maintenance fee and any necessary surcharge may be paid on the next succeeding day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday.
Where to submit payment?
Please use one of the following four options:
- Pay online (preferred method) - Pay immediately in the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront with a credit or debit card, USPTO deposit account, or EFT. Do not submit the payment via Patent Center.
Pay now - Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront
- Pay by wire - See the instructions for sending a wire payment to the USPTO.
- Pay by fax - Complete the Maintenance Fee Transmittal form and Credit Card Payment Form (if paying with a credit or debit card), and fax to 571-273-6500.
- Pay by mail - Complete the Maintenance Fee Transmittal form and Credit Card Payment Form (if paying with a credit or debit card). Checks or money orders should be made payable to the “Director of the USPTO”. Mail to:
| For USPS first-class mail: | For mail delivered by any delivery service: |
| Mail Stop Maintenance Fee Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 | United States Patent and Trademark Office Customer Service Window Mail Stop Maintenance Fee 501 Dulany Street Alexandria, VA 22314 |
Update the entity status or fee address
Quick links: Patent Center
Definitions:
Small entity: A small entity is defined in 37 CFR 1.27 as a person, a small business concern, or a nonprofit organization. Maintenance fees are reduced by 60 percent for qualified small entities.
Micro entity: To qualify as a micro entity, an applicant must meet the eligibility requirements under either the “gross income” basis (see 37 C.F.R. 1.29(a)) or the “institution of higher education” basis (see 37 C.F.R. 1.29(d)). Maintenance fees are reduced by 80 percent for qualified micro entities. A third party is not eligible for the micro entity discount.
Correspondence address: an address established for the application to which all correspondence from the USPTO will be sent.
Fee address: a fee address can be established to have correspondence related solely to maintenance fees mailed to a different address than the correspondence address for the application.
Who can update?
All change requests must be signed by a recognized party. Be sure to review guidelines to determine who qualifies as a recognized party.
What to include with updates?
For proper certification of micro entity status, use form SB/15A or SB/15B, signed by a recognized party. To claim small entity status, provide a written assertion of entitlement to small entity status, signed by a recognized party. For loss of entitlement to small or micro entity status, provide a written notification of loss of entitlement, signed by a recognized party.
- If you need to update the entity status for more than one patent, you must submit a separate request for each patent (i.e., do not include more than one patent number on each document submitted).
To establish or change a fee address, submit the “Fee Address” Indication Form. (Customer numbers are primarily used by attorneys and law firms, and must be requested. The Request for Customer Number form must also be completed if you have no customer number, and will result in a delay processing the “Fee Address” Indication Form. The Request for Customer Number Data Change form should be completed to update your existing customer number information.)
- If you do not want to establish a separate fee address for maintenance fee purposes but want to receive correspondence related to maintenance fees, you may update the correspondence address by submitting the Change of Correspondence Address (Patent) form.
When to update?
You must file entity status changes prior to or at the time of paying the maintenance fee.
Where to submit updates?
Please use one of the following three options:
- Submit in Patent Center – Must be a registered Patent Center user. Select the correct document description to prevent delays. Please allow 3-5 business days for your request to be processed before attempting to pay your maintenance fee.
Go to Patent Center
- Submit by fax or mail – All other users should fax requests to the Maintenance Fee Branch at 571-273-6500. Please allow 3-5 business days for your request to be processed before attempting to pay your maintenance fee online or by wire.
- You may also fax your change request accompanied by a Maintenance Fee Transmittal form and Credit Card Payment Form (if paying with a credit or debit card). If paying by check, mail your request with payment to the address displayed in the pay the maintenance fee section.
- You may also fax your change request accompanied by a Maintenance Fee Transmittal form and Credit Card Payment Form (if paying with a credit or debit card). If paying by check, mail your request with payment to the address displayed in the pay the maintenance fee section.
- Submit by Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet – Users with a customer number that meet certain criteria may use the spreadsheet and request bulk updates to the fee address (and correspondence address). See the Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet for instructions and more information.
Determine who qualifies as a recognized party
All change requests must be signed by a recognized party. A recognized party can be:
- A registered practitioner (an attorney or agent who is either of record or acting in a representative capacity under 37 CFR 1.34)
- A sole inventor identified as the applicant, or the legal representative identified as the only applicant
- A single joint inventor with power of attorney by way of form AIA/81 or equivalent
- All of the joint inventors identified as the applicant (for micro entity certification, each joint inventor must sign a separate copy of the applicable form)
- An assignee identified as the applicant in an application filed on or after September 16, 2012 (only if the assignee is a person.) All papers submitted on behalf of a juristic entity must be signed by a patent practitioner per 37 CFR 1.33(b).
View maintenance fee information
Check the current status of a patent
You can view bibliographic data, payment window dates, and the fee amounts due for a specific patent on the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront. Navigate to the “By Patent & Application Number” search section, enter your patent number and application number, and select the “Continue” button to view current patent information.
Go to the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront
Maintenance fee statements
You can also download a statement outlining maintenance fee payment history for your patent on the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront. You can download statements for paid patent maintenance fees by searching for a patent as described above and clicking on the “Statement” link within the payment window status table. Statements are only available online for patent maintenance fees that have been paid on or after October 1, 2009. Patent maintenance fees paid before October 1, 2009 will display as “Not Available” in the statement column.
Go to the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront
Published notices
We publish weekly lists of patents for which maintenance fees may now be paid and of patents expired for failure to pay maintenance fees in the Official Gazette. Choose the year and week of interest and select the "Notice of Maintenance Fees Payable" or the "Notice of Expiration of Patents Due to Failure to Pay Maintenance Fee" links.
Reinstate an expired patent
If a maintenance fee has not been paid in a timely manner and the owner of the patent wants to get the patent rights reinstated, a petition and proper fees are required.
Who can submit the petition?
A petition to reinstate an expired patent must be submitted by a recognized party. Be sure to review guidelines to determine who qualifies as a recognized party.
What are the petition requirements?
Any petition to accept an unintentionally delayed payment of a maintenance fee must include:
- the required maintenance fee set forth in § 1.20(e) through (g)
- the petition fee as set forth in § 1.17(m)(1) or (2), as applicable
- a statement that the delay in payment of the maintenance fee was unintentional
- be signed in compliance with § 1.33(b).
We will require additional information when the petition is filed more than two years after the date the patent expired for nonpayment. The additional information is required to ensure that we are provided with sufficient facts and circumstances to support a conclusion that the entire delay was “unintentional.”
How much to pay?
View the current maintenance fee and petition fee amounts on the USPTO Fee Schedule . The surcharge for late payment within 6 months set forth in § 1.20(h) is not required.
When will my petition be processed?
Web-based ePetitions filed via Patent Center are automatically processed and granted immediately upon submission if the petition meets all of the requirements. Petitioners will know instantly whether all requirements have been met.
Petitions filed in paper (mailed, faxed, or submitted as a PDF attachment in Patent Center) are subject to significant processing delays and the filing does not guarantee a granted petition.
Where to submit my petition?
Please use one of the following two options:
- Submit in Patent Center – If the date of expiration is less than two years, file a petition using the Web-based ePetition in Patent Center (currently registered independent inventors and practitioners only). Refer to the ePetition resource page for additional information.
- Submit by mail or fax – If the date of expiration is more than two years, file a petition by submitting the completed form SB/66 and Credit Card Payment Form (if paying with a credit or debit card). Checks or money orders should be made payable to the “Director of the USPTO”.
Mail Stop Petition
Commissioner for Patents
P. O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
or
Fax: 571-273-8300
Contact information
Contact the Office of Petitions at 571-272-3282 for assistance on filing a petition to accept unintentionally delayed payment of the maintenance fee.
Make a deficiency payment
What is a deficiency payment under 37 CFR 1.28(c) or 1.29(k)?
If small or micro entity was established in good faith, and you paid a maintenance fee as a small or micro entity in good faith but later discover that such status was established in error or that through error we were not notified of a loss of entitlement to such status, we will excuse the error if a deficiency payment and other requirements are submitted in compliance with 37 CFR 1.28(c) or 1.29(k). This is known as a “1.28(c) petition” or “1.29(k) petition.”
What to include with a deficiency payment petition?
A separate submission is required for each patent paid in error. You must submit an itemization of the deficiency payment as follows:
- Each particular type of fee that was previously paid in error (e.g., maintenance fee due at 3.5 years, surcharge - 3.5 year)
- The fee amounts previously paid, and the date on which it was paid
- The deficiency owed amount (for each fee erroneously paid)
- The total deficiency payment owed, which is the sum of the individual deficiency owed amounts.
How do I calculate the amount owed?
Use the difference between the current fee amount (based on the USPTO Fee Schedule) and the amount previously paid in error.
If the original small or micro entity fee amount was paid with no surcharge during the window period, no surcharge is required. If the original small or micro entity fee amount was paid with a surcharge during the grace period, an additional surcharge is required.
Who can submit a deficiency payment petition?
The deficiency payment petition must be signed by a recognized party. Be sure to review guidelines to determine who qualifies as a recognized party.
When will my deficiency payment petition be processed?
The payment is processed upon receipt. However, the Office of Petitions must make a formal decision on the acceptance of the deficiency payment petition. The entity status change and additional payment will not be reflected on the maintenance fee statement until after the petition has been granted. This may take considerable time as they are manually reviewed in the order received.
Where to submit a deficiency payment petition?
Please use one of the following two options:
- Submit in Patent Center (deposit account payment only) – Must be a registered Patent Center user.
- Submit by mail or fax – Complete the 1.28(c) or 1.29(k) petition requirements and Credit Card Payment Form (if paying with a credit or debit card). Checks or money orders should be made payable to the “Director of the USPTO.”
Mail Stop Petition
Commissioner for Patents
P. O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
or
Fax: 571-273-8300
About patent maintenance fees
What happens if I don’t pay a maintenance fee?
If maintenance fees and any applicable surcharges are not paid the patent protection lapses and the rights provided by a patent are no longer enforceable.
Reminder and expiration notices
It is the responsibility of the patentee to ensure maintenance fees and any applicable surcharges are paid timely to prevent expiration of the patent. If the maintenance fee is not paid within the first six months in the year in which it can be paid, a Maintenance Fee Reminder notice is sent to the fee address or correspondence address on record.
If the maintenance fee and any applicable surcharge are not paid by the end of the 4th, 8th, or 12th years after the date of issue, the patent rights lapse and a Notice of Patent Expiration is sent to the fee address or correspondence address on record.
Failure to receive the notices will not shift the burden of monitoring the time for paying a maintenance fee from the patentee to the USPTO. If a fee address has not been established, the notices are sent to the correspondence address.
SCAM ALERT: there are numerous companies unaffiliated with the USPTO that send solicitations to patent owners concerning maintenance requirements. Scammers also attempt to fool patent owners into providing personal or payment information by falsely claiming to be an employee with the USPTO. See the warning about non-USPTO solicitations and the warning about spoofed calls that impersonate the USPTO for more information.
Reissue patent families
Effective January 16, 2018, there are changes for maintaining in force individual patents in reissue patent families. See the Official Gazette notice and the frequently asked questions (FAQs) for more information about the change.
Expiration dates
Generally, utility patents expire after 20 years from the application filing date subject to the payment of appropriate maintenance fees. The USPTO does not calculate the expiration dates for patents. In response to patent owner and public inquiry, the USPTO provides a downloadable patent term calculator as a resource to help the public estimate the expiration date of a patent. See the Patent Term Calculator page for more information.
Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront
The Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront is the USPTO’s online search and payment tool for patent maintenance fees. Any user may access this site as a guest to view or pay fees, but signed in uspto.gov registered users will have access to additional features. Check out the Video Introduction to the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront to learn more.
If you need assistance, please contact the Maintenance Fee Branch at 571-272-6500 or RADHelpdesk@uspto.gov.