Why every maintenance date is a keep-or-drop decision
A US utility patent must be paid for three times after grant, and each date is a fresh decision about whether the patent still earns its cost.
Lesson 12 of 12 · 4 min
Grant is not the last bill. A US utility patent has to be kept alive with maintenance fees (MPEP 2506), and each one is a chance to ask whether the patent is still worth its cost.
The schedule
Utility fees fall due at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years from grant. Each window opens 6 months before the due date, a 6-month surcharge period follows it, and the patent expires at the 4th, 8th or 12th anniversary if the fee is not paid (MPEP 2506). Design and plant patents pay none (35 USC 41). As with filing fees, ignore the dollar amounts printed in the statute and read the live schedule.
No one will remind you. The USPTO has "no duty to notify patentees when their maintenance fees are due" (MPEP 2575). So docket each anniversary as a hard stop.
If a patent lapses
Reinstatement needs the fee, a petition fee and a statement that the whole delay was unintentional (MPEP 2590). That word matters. A deliberate choice to stop paying cannot later be called unintentional, and a false statement can make the patent unenforceable (91 FR 37826). If you drop a patent on purpose, treat that as final.
Even a good reinstatement has a cost. People who began using the invention during the lapse keep intervening rights (35 USC 41).
Check status and ownership
In our judgment, a license or assignment to a large entity can end your discount eligibility, so re-test your status before each payment. Record your assignments too, because an unrecorded assignment is at risk (35 USC 261).
How to decide
Patent value is skewed. In one older study, 53.71% of patents from 1991 lapsed early (Moore). That data is old, but it shows that letting go is a normal choice.
Industry practice, which is judgment and not law, is to weigh a few things at each date:
- Does a current product use it?
- Does it have licensing value?
- Could you actually enforce it?
- How much term remains?
- Does another family member already cover the same ground?
Spending should follow those answers. A patent that fails every test is a candidate to drop, and that money can go to one that passes.
Timeless wisdom
Utility fees fall due at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years from grant, with expiry at the 4th, 8th or 12th anniversary (MPEP 2506). The USPTO has "no duty to notify patentees when their maintenance fees are due" (MPEP 2575). Reinstatement needs a statement that the whole delay was unintentional (MPEP 2590), and those who began use during a lapse keep intervening rights (35 USC 41). The durable habit is to treat each fee as a fresh investment decision, made on purpose and recorded.
What's current
As of November 6, 2026
Each line reads undiscounted/small/micro.
- 3.5 years: $2,150/$860/$430
- 7.5 years: $4,040/$1,616/$808
- 11.5 years: $8,280/$3,312/$1,656
- Total: $14,470/$5,788/$2,894
- Grace surcharge: $540/$216/$108
- Delay petition within one year: $2,260/$904/$452
- Delay petition beyond one year: $3,000/$1,200/$600
Electronic assignment recordation is free (fee schedule).
Since Aug. 13, 2026, petitions filed more than one year after expiry, abandonment or a missed priority or benefit date need additional explanation and the higher fee (91 FR 37826). This replaces the two-year threshold still printed in MPEP 2590.
Abroad, Unitary Patent renewals run from EUR 35 to EUR 4,855 per year (EPO), and Japan's annual fees run from ¥4,300 to ¥59,400 before per-claim amounts (JPO fee list).
Key takeaways
- US utility fees fall due at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years, and no one will remind you.
- A deliberate drop cannot later be called unintentional.
- Re-test your discount status before each payment.
- Decide on products, licensing value, enforceability, remaining term and overlap.
Check your understanding
Sources
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.