MPEP § 2530 — MPEP § 2530
Current through: 2022-07-01

2530-Special Acceptance of Maintenance Fee Payments Containing Informalities 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Chapter 2500 

 Section 2530 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 2530 Special Acceptance of Maintenance Fee Payments Containing
 Informalities [R-07.2015]
 

 It is strongly recommended that a maintenance fee submission by mail or
 facsimile include both a telephone number and a mailing address for the fee submitter
 because, provided the fee is sufficient, the Office may attempt to contact the submitter
 by telephone and/or by mail to confirm the patent to which the fee is to be applied. If
 the Office specially accepts a payment under any one of scenarios I – III below, a
 Notice of Special Acceptance of Patent Maintenance Fee (PTO-2143) will be mailed to the
 submitter that identifies the patent number and application number to which the
 maintenance fee was applied and requests the submitter to verify that the payment was
 applied as intended. If the payment was not applied to the intended patent, a petition
 (such as a petition under 37 CFR 1.377 ) must be filed. If the
 petition is not filed within 2 months of the date of the notice (PTO-2143), the petition
 may be dismissed as untimely, and relief may have to be pursued under 37 CFR 1.378(a) -
 (c) .
 

 I. PATENT NUMBER SUPPLIED BUT NO APPLICATION NUMBER SUPPLIED If a maintenance fee payment identifies 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 the patent number in the payment or may return the payment. See
 37 CFR
 1.366(c) . 
 

 II. PATENT NUMBER AND APPLICATION NUMBER SUPPLIED BUT THEY DO NOT
 CORRESPOND When a patent number and an application number are both supplied,
 but they do not correspond to the same patent, the Office will generally apply the
 payment to the patent identified by the patent number, if possible. Even if the
 payment is sufficient and timely to pay the maintenance fee due in the patent
 identified by the patent number, the Office may return the payment if additional
 information on the payment submission is inconsistent with the patent identified by
 the patent number. The Office may even apply the payment to the patent identified by
 the application number if the additional information corroborates that patent. Such
 may be the case, for example, where the fee submitter is the addressee named in the
 correspondence address or fee address of the patent identified by the application
 number.
 

 III. NO PATENT NUMBER SUPPLIED BUT APPLICATION NUMBER SUPPLIED If a maintenance fee is due on the patent identified by the
 application number and the payment submitted is sufficient, the Office may apply the
 payment to the patent (provided additional corroborating information is present) or
 may return the payment.
 

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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