Patent Office Shortens Grace Period to Avoid Fees, Explanations

The US Patent and Trademark Office will be expanding the scope of when it will seek additional explanations and fees from patent owners and applicants who either missed their deadlines to pay maintenance fees or abandoned their patent applications.

The agency as of March 2020 asked for explanations along with a fee of as much as $3,000 from patent owners who miss a fee deadline by more than two years and patent applicants who seek to revive abandoned applications after a period of more than two years. A final rule posted to the Federal Register, dated Wednesday, said that two-year ...