You’ve finally made it through the examination process and have an issued patent – congratulations! But now you must maintain the patent or risk losing it. There are things that must be done periodically to keep patents alive and enforceable for the duration of their term.
In the U.S.
Utility patents require maintenance fees to be paid at 3.5 years, 7.5 years and 11.5 years after patent issuance to keep the patent alive and enforceable. The fees increase in cost with each successive deadline, though discounts for small entities and micro entities are available. A grace period of up to 6 months for each deadline is available, if needed, for an additional surcharge.
Failure to pay maintenance fees will result in expiration of the patent and loss of patent rights. At that point, exclusive rights to the invention claimed in the patent are surrendered and the claimed invention is available to the public.
Globally
Most countries around the world require annuities to be paid each year to keep an issued patent alive. The amounts vary by country but generally successively increase as well. Failure to pay any annuity will result in expiration of the patent and loss of exclusive patent rights in that country. Except in the case of regional patents (such as a European patent subject to the Unified Patent Court), these apply on a country-by-country basis, so expiration of a patent in one country does not affect the status of a counterpart patent in another country.
You can contact any of the Intellectual Property attorneys at Metz Lewis for more information on keeping your patents alive.
