MPEP § 2515 — MPEP § 2515
Current through: 2022-07-01

2515-Information Required for Submission of Maintenance Fee Payment 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Manual of Patent Examining Procedure 

 Chapter 2500 

 Section 2515 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 2515 Information Required for Submission of Maintenance Fee
 Payment [R-07.2015]
 

 
 37 CFR 1.366 Submission of maintenance fees. 

 
 (a) The patentee may pay maintenance fees and any necessary
 surcharges, or any person or organization may pay maintenance fees and any
 necessary surcharges on behalf of a patentee. A maintenance fee transmittal
 letter may be signed by a juristic applicant or patent owner. A patentee
 need not file authorization to enable any person or organization to pay
 maintenance fees and any necessary surcharges on behalf of the patentee.
 

 (b) A maintenance fee and any necessary surcharge submitted for
 a patent must be submitted in the amount due on the date the maintenance fee
 and any necessary surcharge are paid. A maintenance fee or surcharge may be
 paid in the manner set forth in § 1.23 or by an
 authorization to charge a deposit account established pursuant to
 §
 1.25 . Payment of a maintenance fee and any necessary
 surcharge or the authorization to charge a deposit account must be submitted
 within the periods set forth in § 1.362(d), (e), or
 (f) . Any payment or authorization of maintenance fees and
 surcharges filed at any other time will not be accepted and will not serve
 as a payment of the maintenance fee except insofar as a delayed payment of
 the maintenance fee is accepted by the Director in an expired patent
 pursuant to a petition filed under § 1.378 . Any
 authorization to charge a deposit account must authorize the immediate
 charging of the maintenance fee and any necessary surcharge to the deposit
 account. Payment of less than the required amount, payment in a manner other
 than that set forth in § 1.23 , or in the
 filing of an authorization to charge a deposit account having insufficient
 funds will not constitute payment of a maintenance fee or surcharge on a
 patent. The procedures set forth in § 1.8 or
 §
 1.10 may be utilized in paying maintenance fees and
 any necessary surcharges.
 

 (c) 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 United States
 application for the patent on which the maintenance fee is being paid. If
 the payment includes identification of only the patent number
 ( i.e. , does not identify the application number of
 the United States application for the patent on which the maintenance fee is
 being paid), the Office may apply the payment to the patent identified by
 patent number in the payment or may return the payment.
 

 (d) Payment of maintenance fees and any surcharges should
 identify the fee being paid for each patent as to whether it is the 3 1/2-,
 7 1/2-, or 11 1/2-year fee, whether small entity status is being changed or
 claimed, the amount of the maintenance fee and any surcharge being paid, and
 any assigned customer number. If the maintenance fee and any necessary
 surcharge is being paid on a reissue patent, the payment must identify the
 reissue patent by reissue patent number and reissue application number as
 required by paragraph (c) of this section and should also include the
 original patent number.
 

 (e) Maintenance fee payments and surcharge payments relating
 thereto must be submitted separate from any other payments for fees or
 charges, whether submitted in the manner set forth in § 1.23 or by an authorization to charge a deposit
 account. If maintenance fee and surcharge payments for more than one patent
 are submitted together, they should be submitted on as few sheets as
 possible with the patent numbers listed in increasing patent number order.
 If the payment submitted is insufficient to cover the maintenance fees and
 surcharges for all the listed patents, the payment will be applied in the
 order the patents are listed, beginning at the top of the listing.
 

 (f) Notification of any change in status resulting in loss of
 entitlement to small entity status must be filed in a patent prior to
 paying, or at the time of paying, the earliest maintenance fee due after the
 date on which status as a small entity is no longer appropriate. See
 §
 1.27(g) .
 

 (g) Maintenance fees and surcharges relating thereto will not be
 refunded except in accordance with §§ 1.26 and
 1.28(a) .
 

 
 

 37 CFR
 1.366 establishes the guidelines and procedures for submission of
 maintenance fees, including any necessary surcharges. The patentee may pay maintenance
 fees and any necessary surcharges or any person or organization may pay maintenance fees
 and any necessary surcharges on behalf of the patentee without filing in the Office
 evidence of authorization by the patentee to pay maintenance fees. This will enable
 patentees to pay the maintenance fees and any necessary surcharges themselves or
 authorize some person or organization to pay maintenance fees and any necessary
 surcharges on their behalf. No verification of the authority to pay maintenance fees and
 any necessary surcharges in a particular patent will be made by the Office. While anyone
 may pay the maintenance fees and any necessary surcharges on a patent, if the payment is
 accepted by the Office, any Office notices relating to maintenance fees and any
 necessary surcharges will be mailed to the “fee address” set forth in 37 CFR 1.363 . If
 the payment is not accepted by the Office, it will be returned to the person who
 submitted the payment if a return address is available. It is strongly recommended that
 the payor should include a return address along with his or her telephone number since
 the Office may contact the payor in some instances when it is unclear to which patent
 the fees are to be applied. See MPEP § 2530 . 
 

 A maintenance fee and any necessary surcharge for a patent must be
 submitted in the amount due on the date the maintenance fee and any necessary surcharge
 are paid, and at the proper time, i.e., within the periods set forth in
 37 CFR
 1.362 . If the amount of the maintenance fee is correct on the
 date it is paid and credited to the patent, a later change in the maintenance fees to
 reflect a new fee amount will not require a modification in the amount paid. 
 

 37 CFR
 1.366(c) provides that a maintenance fee payment must include the
 patent number and the application number on which the maintenance fee is being paid. If
 the payment includes identification of only the patent number (i.e., does not identify
 the application number for the patent on which the maintenance fee is being paid), the
 Office may apply the payment to the patent identified by patent number in the payment or
 may return the payment. See MPEP § 2530 . The application number
 required to be submitted is not that of a prior parent application, but rather the
 application number of the actual application that matured into the patent for which
 maintenance fees are to be paid. If the maintenance fee and any necessary surcharge is
 being paid on a reissue patent, the application number required is that of the reissue
 application. 
 

 If a patent expires because the maintenance fee and any necessary
 surcharge have not been paid in the manner required by 37 CFR 1.366 , the
 patentee could proceed under 37 CFR 1.378 (see
 MPEP §
 2590 ), if appropriate, or could file a petition under
 37 CFR
 1.377 (see MPEP § 2580 ) within the period set
 therein seeking to have the maintenance fee accepted as timely even though not all of
 the required identifying data was present prior to expiration of the grace period.
 

 Under 37 CFR 1.366(d) , the following information should also be
 submitted for each patent on which a maintenance fee or surcharge is paid
 ( 37 CFR
 1.366(d)) :
 

 
 (A) the fee year (i.e., 3 1/2, 7 1/2, or 11 1/2 year fee); 

 (B) the amount of the maintenance fee and any surcharge being
 submitted; 
 

 (C) any assigned customer number; and 

 (D) whether entity status is being changed or claimed with the
 payment. 
 

 
 Where the payment is a maintenance fee and any necessary surcharge on a
 reissue patent, in addition to the information requested for all payments, it is
 requested that the original patent number be furnished. Although the submission of the
 information requested under 37 CFR 1.366(d) is not mandatory,
 it would expedite the processing of maintenance fee payments. 
 

 The Maintenance Fee Transmittal Form, PTO/SB/45 should be used when
 submitting maintenance fees by mail or by facsimile transmission. This form is
 available, upon request, from the Maintenance Fee Branch. It is also available from the
 USPTO website ( www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms#patent ).
 

 The Office processes fees in the order in which they are presented. If
 the payment submitted is insufficient to cover the maintenance fees and surcharges for
 all patents listed, and there is no general authorization to charge a deposit account,
 the payment will be applied in the order the patents are listed, beginning at the top of
 the listing.
 

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 2501-Introduction 

 2502-2503-[Reserved] 

 2504-Patents Subject to Maintenance Fees 

 2505-[Reserved] 

 2506-Times for Submitting Maintenance Fee Payments 

 2507-2509-[Reserved] 

 2510-Submission of Maintenance Fee Payments and Documents 

 2511-2514-[Reserved] 

 2515-Information Required for Submission of Maintenance Fee Payment 

 2516-2519-[Reserved] 

 2520-Maintenance Fee Amounts 

 2521-[Reserved] 

 2522-Methods of Payment 

 2523-2529-[Reserved] 

 2530-Special Acceptance of Maintenance Fee Payments Containing Informalities 

 2531-Payment Late or Insufficient 

 2532-Duplicate Payments 

 2533-2539-[Reserved] 

 2540-Fee Address for Maintenance Fee Purposes 

 2541-[Reserved] 

 2542-Change of Correspondence Address 

 2543-2549-[Reserved] 

 2550-Entity Status Discounts 

 2551-2559-[Reserved] 

 2560-Revocation of Power of Attorney and Withdrawal of Attorney 

 2561-2569-[Reserved] 

 2570-Maintenance Fee Payment Status Requests 

 2571-2574-[Reserved] 

 2575-Notices 

 2576-2579-[Reserved] 

 2580-Review of Decision Refusing to Accept and Record Payment of a Maintenance Fee Filed Prior to Expiration of Patent 

 2581-2589-[Reserved] 

 2590-Acceptance of Delayed Payment of Maintenance Fee in Expired Patent to Reinstate Patent 

 2591-Intervening Rights in Reinstated Patents 

 2592-2594-[Reserved] 

 2595-Forms 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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 Last Modified: 
 
 03/09/2026 20:49:36