What filing costs and who qualifies for discounts
US filing fees come in several parts, and a discount is a status you must actually qualify for.
Lesson 1 of 12 · 5 min
A US patent application is not one payment. It is a series of payments, and each one is a small decision. This lesson covers the fees the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) charges directly (USPTO fee schedule). Attorney costs are separate, and nothing here estimates them.
The fees at the start
A utility application, the ordinary kind that covers how something works, carries three charges when you file: a basic filing fee, a search fee and an examination fee. If the claims are allowed, an issue fee follows. Other charges depend on what you do, such as filing a very long application, taking extra time to respond, or asking to reopen examination (USPTO fee schedule). The amounts sit in the Current section below because they change and this reasoning does not.
One trap: the patent statute prints dollar amounts, but those are not what is charged (35 USC 41). Always read the live schedule instead.
A discount is a status, not a coupon
The law gives small entities 60% off most fees, and 80% off the basic filing fee when it is filed electronically (35 USC 41). A micro entity is a narrower tier with its own conditions, including a gross income limit (USPTO micro entity page). Read each test against your own facts before you claim either one.
Once small entity status is established, later fees can be paid at that rate until the issue fee or a maintenance fee is due, when you must check your status again (37 CFR 1.27). Micro entity status is stricter: you must give notice of losing it before paying any later fee (37 CFR 1.29). In our judgment, the safe habit is to check before every payment. Your status can change between filing and issue, for example if you license the invention to a larger company.
A wrong claim has a price
Falsely claiming a reduction carries a fine of at least three times the shortfall, unless good faith is shown (35 USC 41). An honest mistake can be repaired, but the fix takes a separate itemized submission for each case, and the deficiency is measured against the current undiscounted fee (37 CFR 1.28). So a small error can become more expensive the longer it sits.
Keep the base fees in proportion
In our judgment, the base fees are modest compared with what can come later: paying for speed, responding to rejections, filing abroad and keeping the patent alive. Later lessons in this course price each of those steps, so you can decide them one at a time.
Timeless wisdom
Small entities pay 60% less, with an 80% reduction for electronically filed basic filing fees (35 USC 41). Falsely claiming a reduction carries a fine of at least three times the shortfall unless good faith is shown (35 USC 41). Good-faith errors are fixed by a separate itemized submission for each case, measured against the current undiscounted fee (37 CFR 1.28). The durable lesson is that a discount rests on facts that must be true when you pay, not on what was true the last time.
What's current
As of November 5, 2026
Amounts come from the USPTO fee schedule, effective Jan. 19, 2025 and last revised Nov. 1, 2026. Each line reads undiscounted/small/micro.
- Basic filing, utility: $350/$140/$70 (small is $70 if e-filed)
- Search: $770/$308/$154
- Examination: $880/$352/$176
- Issue: $1,290/$516/$258
- Provisional filing: $325/$130/$65
- Each 50 sheets over 100: $450/$180/$90
- Extension, month 1: $235/$94/$47
- Month 2: $690/$276/$138
- Month 3: $1,590/$636/$318
- First request for continued examination (RCE): $1,500/$600/$300
- Later RCE: $2,860/$1,144/$572
- Notice of appeal: $905/$362/$181
- Appeal forwarding: $2,535/$1,014/$507
- Track One: $4,515/$1,806/$903
- Information disclosure statement (IDS) submission: $280/$112/$56
- Benefit claim over 6 years: $2,700/$1,080/$540
- Over 9 years: $4,000/$1,600/$800
- Terminal disclaimer: $183 for all
By arithmetic, a compliant e-filed application in DOCX format within base claim limits totals $2,000/$730/$400 (fee schedule). That excludes issue fees and attorney costs, so it is not all-in. IDS size fees are the same for every entity (fee schedule).
The micro income limit has been $262,380 since Sept. 15, 2026 (USPTO). Since June 2025 the Office can issue a combined deficiency notice and order to show cause (USPTO), and an October 2025 memo lets petitions staff review entity claims.
No FY2026 or FY2027 fee rule was found through Nov. 5, 2026 (Federal Register). The USPTO's fee-setting authority was extended through Dec. 11, 2026 (Congress.gov). A value-based fee idea was publicly disclaimed on Feb. 10, 2026 as "not a plan" (Bloomberg Law).
Key takeaways
- A US application carries separate filing, search and examination fees, and an issue fee comes later.
- Read fees from the live USPTO schedule, not from the amounts printed in the statute.
- Claim a discount only if you qualify, and check your status again before issue and maintenance fees.
- A false claim can bring a fine of at least three times the shortfall.
Check your understanding
Sources
- USPTO fee schedule
- 35 USC 41, patent fees
- 37 CFR 1.27, small entity status
- 37 CFR 1.28, refunds and deficiency payments
- 37 CFR 1.29, micro entity status
- USPTO micro entity status page
- USPTO announcement on penalties for false entity status claims
- USPTO memo on entity status review
- Federal Register, USPTO documents
- Congress.gov, H.R. 6500
- Bloomberg Law on the value-based fee idea
The Academy is general education, not legal advice, and reading it doesn't create an attorney-client relationship. Patent law and fees change, so check the linked sources and have a registered patent attorney or agent review your situation before you file. Obsidyan sells patent software, including AI drafting tools, so weigh what these lessons say about AI tools with that in mind.