Patent Fees: Everything You Need to Know

Patent fees relate to the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) standard costs for processing patent searches, patent examinations, provisional patent applications, utility patent applications, patent issue, patent maintenance, and appeals.

The patent office charges fees for every action it performs. A standard fee schedule shows the amount you owe. The complete schedule includes the costs for every type of patent and trademark filing. It also includes fees for maintenance, appeals, and other services.

Why Are Patent Office Fees Important?

The USPTO plays an important role in innovation and job creation in the U.S. Over time, several pieces of legislation have been introduced to improve the patent office's power and funding.

• Innovation Protection Act: This bill proposes permanent funding for the USPTO.
• Patent Fee Integrity Act: This bill proposes creating an Innovation Promotion Fund for the USPTO.
• Patents and Trademarks Encourage New Technology Jobs Act: This bill ends the application of sequestration to the USPTO.

Advantages of Patent Office Fees

• They Provide Necessary Funding

The patent office is a fee-funded government agency, so payments are necessary for the agency to provide services.

Virtually every USPTO service requires a fee, meaning applicants tend not to request unnecessary services. As a result, the patent office can manage its workload.

Disadvantages of Patent Office Fees

• They Encourage More Patent Applications

Affordable fees encourage more applications, which makes more work for the patent office. Cheaper fees can lead to more low-quality patents for low-value inventions. Also, low fees can encourage "patent trolls," that buy up old patents with the demanding licensing fees from companies that develop subsequent technologies. Higher fees may discourage some patent owners from maintaining patents for long periods of time.

• They Require the USPTO to Issue More Patents

The patent fee structure offers relatively low fees for patent applications, but charge higher fees for issuing patents. That means the patent office earns more money from granting patents. Increasing the filing fees and lowering the issue fees could decrease the number of patents that the patent office has to issue to maintain funding.

Patent Office Fee Classifications

The USPTO charges fees based on three classifications:

• Large Entity: This standard fee includes large businesses. It also includes all entities that don't meet the other classifications. Large entities pay the full fee.
• Small Entity: This includes entities that fall under the definition of section 3 of the Small Business Act. Small entities need fewer than 500 employees. This classification can include independent applicants, universities, and some nonprofits. Small entities pay 50 percent of the full fee in almost every category.
• Micro Entity: The USPTO introduced this classification on March 19, 2013, in the America Invents Act. Micro entities have to file a Certification of Micro Entity Status. They have to meet the small entity requirements and several others. They can't be named on more than four previous patent applications. Their gross income has to be less than three times the median household income for the previous year. They can't be under obligation to assign or license to entities that don't meet these requirements. Micro entities pay 25 percent of the full fee in almost every category.

Types of Patent Office Fees

The USPTO issues many types of patent fees. The main types are as follows:

• Patent Application Fees: These are due when you submit a patent application.

Description

Large Entity

Small Entity

Micro Entity

Utility Patent Application