Visit the Office of Finance On-line Shopping Page to pay maintenance fees, view payment history information and view payment window dates.

The Maintenance Fee Branch processes patent maintenance fee payments and fee address requests, updates the entity status for issued patents, and responds to inquiries regarding post-issuance status. The Branch also provides information for the publication of the Official Gazette, which provides the status of issued patents.

Maintenance fees are due three times during the life of a patent, and may be paid without surcharge at:

• 3 to 3 ½ years after the date of issue for the first payment;
• 7 to 7 ½ years after the date of issue for the second payment; and
• 11 to 11 ½ years after the date of issue for the third and final payment.

Maintenance fees may be paid with a surcharge during the following "grace periods:"

• 3 ½ years and through the day of the 4th anniversary of the grant of the patent;
• 7 ½ years and through the day of the 8th anniversary of the grant of the patent; and
• 11 ½ years and through the day of the 12th anniversary of the grant of the patent.

If the last day for paying a maintenance fee or any applicable surcharge falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, the fee may be paid on the succeeding day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday.

If the maintenance fee and any applicable surcharge are not paid, the patent will expire at the end of the applicable grace period as listed above. A patent that expires for failure of payment will expire on the anniversary date that the patent was granted in the 4th, 8th, or 12th year after the grant of the patent.

For information about which patents are subject to maintenance fees and the time of payment for maintenance fees, please refer to Chapter 2500: Maintenance Fees of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. For information about other fees please refer to the USPTO Fees page.

Customers may pay patent maintenance fees by using one of the following three options:

• visit the Office of Finance On-line Shopping Page and use our fast, easy and secure way to pay patent maintenance fees on-line using deposit account, credit card, or EFT payment methods;
• send your maintenance fee payment by fax to 571-273-6500 if using deposit account or credit card payment methods; or
  
  
• send your maintenance fee payments by mail to the following address:
  
  

  U.S. Patent and Trademark Office P. O. Box 979070 St. Louis, MO 63197-9000

  -OR-

  Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Attn: Maintenance Fees 2051 Jamieson Avenue, Suite 300 Alexandria, VA 22314

Please send correspondence related to maintenance fees that does NOT accompany a maintenance fee payment (i.e., entity status changes, fee address changes) to:

Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Attn: Maintenance Fees
2051 Jamieson Avenue, Suite 300
Alexandria, VA 22314

Please send petitions for delayed payment of maintenance fees due to unintentional or unavoidable delay to:

Mail Stop Petition
Commissioner for Patents
PO Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

If you have any questions or require additional information about patent maintenance fee payments, please contact the Maintenance Fee Branch.

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