Maintenance Fees

FreshPatents.com is pleased to present this information about "Maintenance Fees". This is the same information as provided by the USPTO for inventors, entrepeneurs and prospective patentholders as of our last update on 01/28/08.
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"Maintenance Fees" patent information

"All utility patents that issue from applications filed on and after December 12, 1980 are subject to the payment of maintenance fees which must be paid to maintain the patent in force. These fees are due at 3 1/2, 7 1/2 and 11 1/2 years from the date the patent is granted and can be paid without a surcharge during the "window-period" which is the six-month period preceding each due date, e.g., three years to three years and six months. (See fee schedule for a list of maintenance fees.) In submitting maintenance fees and any necessary surcharges, identification of the patents for which maintenance fees are being paid must include the patent number, and the application number of the U.S. application for the patent on which the maintenance fee is being paid. If the payment includes identification of only the patent number, the Office may apply payment to the to the patent identified by patent number in the payment or the Office may return the payment. (See 37, Code of Federal Regulations, section 1.366(c).)....Failure to pay the current maintenance fee on time may result in expiration of the patent. A six-month grace period is provided when the maintenance fee may be paid with a surcharge. The grace period is the six-month period immediately following the due date. The USPTO does not mail notices to patent owners that maintenance fees are due. If, however, the maintenance fee is not paid on time, efforts are made to remind the responsible party that the maintenance fee may be paid during the grace period with a surcharge."

Source: USPTO - This information on "Maintenance Fees" is current as of: 01/28/08

Contents

1. What Is a Patent?
2. What Is a Trademark or Servicemark?
3. What Is a Copyright?
4. Patent Laws
5. What Can Be Patented
6. Conditions For Obtaining A Patent
7. The United States Patent And Trademark Office
8. Attorneys and Agents
9. Disclosure Document Program
10. Who May Apply For A Patent
11. Non-Provisional Application for a Patent
12. Provisional Application for a Patent
13. Publication of Patent Applications
14. § 1.84 Standards for Drawings
15. Issue of Patent
16. Maintenance Fees
17. Correction of Patents
18. Infringement of Patents
19. Design Patents