What to do after filing for a patent. West & Associates, A PC www.westpatentlaw.com What’s Next? What to do after filing for a patent.

Maintenance Fees Your patent fees must be paid within the first 3- 3.5 years ($1,600), then again at 7-7.5 years ($3,600) and at 11-11.5 years($7,400). All of this is calculated from the date of initial filing. If you need an extension, you can pay $160 to extend your time for up to 6 months.

Entity Updates You must file your entity status updates before or at the time of paying the maintenance fees. For proper certification of a micro entity status, you must use form SB/15A or SB/15B. To claim small entity status, you must provide a written assertion of entitlement. For loss of entitlement, provide a written notification of the loss of entitlement.

Foreign Patent Maintenance Fees Most countries require you to pay an annual fee to keep your patent on file. These are called patent annuities. These patent annuities will increase exponentially until the tenth year the patent is on file, at which point the annual fee will plateau and remain the same until the patent expires. If at any time you stop paying the maintenance fees, your patent will expire and no longer be protected.

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