After you get your Notice of Allowance, you still need to pay the issue fee and maintenance fees. The issue fee is due within 3 months after the mail date of the Notice of Allowance. The maintenance fees are due at specific intervals: 3.5, 7.5 and 11.7 years after the patent is granted. To keep your patent enforceable for its full term, you’ll need pay those maintenance … [Read more...]
Maintenance fees
Maintenance fees are due at 3 ½ years, 7 ½ years and 11 ½ years after the date of patent grant. Otherwise, the patent is no longer enforceable against others.
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What are maintenance fees of a patent?
A maintenance fee is a fee paid to the United States Patent and Trademark Office after the patent grant. A utility patent has three maintenance fees at 3 1/2 years, 7 1/2 years, and 11 1/2 years after the patent grant date. Upon failure to pay the required maintenance fee, the patent expires before its 20-year term. A design patent does not have any maintenance fee. When are … [Read more...]
Patent Office provides ways to late pay fees to keep a patent alive
The patent office provides due dates for various matters. Some of the due dates can be extended with payment of an extension fee. Responses or payment of maintenance fees can be paid even after all of the extensions have passed upon petition to the Patent Office. There are two types of petitions. (PTO Forms). One is based on an assertion that non-payment or non-response was … [Read more...]