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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 41. Patent fees; patent and trademark search systems
(a) The Director shall charge the following fees:
(1)(A) On filing each application for an original patent,
except in design or plant cases, $690.
(B) In addition, on filing or on presentation at any other
time, $78 for each claim in independent form which is in excess
of 3, $18 for each claim (whether independent or dependent) which
is in excess of 20, and $260 for each application containing a
multiple dependent claim.
(C) On filing each provisional application for an original
patent, $150.
(2) For issuing each original or reissue patent, except in
design or plant cases, $1,210.
(3) In design and plant cases -
(A) on filing each design application, $310;
(B) on filing each plant application, $480;
(C) on issuing each design patent, $430; and
(D) on issuing each plant patent, $580.
(4)(A) On filing each application for the reissue of a patent,
$690.
(B) In addition, on filing or on presentation at any other
time, $78 for each claim in independent form which is in excess
of the number of independent claims of the original patent, and
$18 for each claim (whether independent or dependent) which is in
excess of 20 and also in excess of the number of claims of the
original patent.
(5) On filing each disclaimer, $110.
(6)(A) On filing an appeal from the examiner to the Board of
Patent Appeals and Interferences, $300.
(B) In addition, on filing a brief in support of the appeal,
$300, and on requesting an oral hearing in the appeal before the
Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, $260.
(7) On filing each petition for the revival of an
unintentionally abandoned application for a patent, for the
unintentionally delayed payment of the fee for issuing each
patent, or for an unintentionally delayed response by the patent
owner in any reexamination proceeding, $1,210, unless the
petition is filed under section 133 or 151 of this title, in
which case the fee shall be $110.
(8) For petitions for 1-month extensions of time to take
actions required by the Director in an application -
(A) on filing a first petition, $110;
(B) on filing a second petition, $270; and
(C) on filing a third petition or subsequent petition, $490.
(9) Basic national fee for an international application where
the Patent and Trademark Office was the International Preliminary
Examining Authority and the International Searching Authority,
$670.
(10) Basic national fee for an international application where
the Patent and Trademark Office was the International Searching
Authority but not the International Preliminary Examining
Authority, $690.
(11) Basic national fee for an international application where
the Patent and Trademark Office was neither the International
Searching Authority nor the International Preliminary Examining
Authority, $970.
(12) Basic national fee for an international application where
the international preliminary examination fee has been paid to
the Patent and Trademark Office, and the international
preliminary examination report states that the provisions of
Article 33(2), (3), and (4) of the Patent Cooperation Treaty have
been satisfied for all claims in the application entering the
national stage, $96.
(13) For filing or later presentation of each independent claim
in the national stage of an international application in excess
of 3, $78.
(14) For filing or later presentation of each claim (whether
independent or dependent) in a national stage of an international
application in excess of 20, $18.
(15) For each national stage of an international application
containing a multiple dependent claim, $260.
For the purpose of computing fees, a multiple dependent claim
referred to in section 112 of this title or any claim depending
therefrom shall be considered as separate dependent claims in
accordance with the number of claims to which reference is made.
Errors in payment of the additional fees may be rectified in
accordance with regulations of the Director.
(b) The Director shall charge the following fees for maintaining
in force all patents based on applications filed on or after
December 12, 1980:
(1) 3 years and 6 months after grant, $830.
(2) 7 years and 6 months after grant, $1,900.
(3) 11 years and 6 months after grant, $2,910.
Unless payment of the applicable maintenance fee is received in the
Patent and Trademark Office on or before the date the fee is due or
within a grace period of 6 months thereafter, the patent will
expire as of the end of such grace period. The Director may require
the payment of a surcharge as a condition of accepting within such
6-month grace period the payment of an applicable maintenance fee.
No fee may be established for maintaining a design or plant patent
in force.
(c)(1) The Director may accept the payment of any maintenance fee
required by subsection (b) of this section which is made within
twenty-four months after the six-month grace period if the delay is
shown to the satisfaction of the Director to have been
unintentional, or at any time after the six-month grace period if
the delay is shown to the satisfaction of the Director to have been
unavoidable. The Director may require the payment of a surcharge as
a condition of accepting payment of any maintenance fee after the
six-month grace period. If the Director accepts payment of a
maintenance fee after the six-month grace period, the patent shall
be considered as not having expired at the end of the grace period.
(2) A patent, the term of which has been maintained as a result
of the acceptance of a payment of a maintenance fee under this
subsection, shall not abridge or affect the right of any person or
that person's successors in business who made, purchased, offered
to sell, or used anything protected by the patent within the United
States, or imported anything protected by the patent into the
United States after the 6-month grace period but prior to the
acceptance of a maintenance fee under this subsection, to continue
the use of, to offer for sale, or to sell to others to be used,
offered for sale, or sold, the specific thing so made, purchased,
offered for sale, used, or imported. The court before which such
matter is in question may provide for the continued manufacture,
use, offer for sale, or sale of the thing made, purchased, offered
for sale, or used within the United States, or imported into the
United States, as specified, or for the manufacture, use, offer for
sale, or sale in the United States of which substantial preparation
was made after the 6-month grace period but before the acceptance
of a maintenance fee under this subsection, and the court may also
provide for the continued practice of any process that is
practiced, or for the practice of which substantial preparation was
made, after the 6-month grace period but before the acceptance of a
maintenance fee under this subsection, to the extent and under such
terms as the court deems equitable for the protection of
investments made or business commenced after the 6-month grace
period but before the acceptance of a maintenance fee under this
subsection.
(d) The Director shall establish fees for all other processing,
services, or materials relating to patents not specified in this
section to recover the estimated average cost to the Office of such
processing, services, or materials, except that the Director shall
charge the following fees for the following services:
(1) For recording a document affecting title, $40 per property.
(2) For each photocopy, $.25 per page.
(3) For each black and white copy of a patent, $3.
The yearly fee for providing a library specified in section 13 (!1)
of this title with uncertified printed copies of the specifications
and drawings for all patents in that year shall be $50.
(e) The Director may waive the payment of any fee for any service
or material related to patents in connection with an occasional or
incidental request made by a department or agency of the
Government, or any officer thereof. The Director may provide any
applicant issued a notice under section 132 of this title with a
copy of the specifications and drawings for all patents referred to
in that notice without charge.
(f) The fees established in subsections (a) and (b) of this
section may be adjusted by the Director on October 1, 1992, and
every year thereafter, to reflect any fluctuations occurring during
the previous 12 months in the Consumer Price Index, as determined
by the Secretary of Labor. Changes of less than 1 per centum may be
ignored.
(g) No fee established by the Director under this section shall
take effect until at least 30 days after notice of the fee has been
published in the Federal Register and in the Official Gazette of
the Patent and Trademark Office.
(h)(1) Fees charged under subsection (a) or (b) shall be reduced
by 50 percent with respect to their application to any small
business concern as defined under section 3 of the Small Business
Act, and to any independent inventor or nonprofit organization as
defined in regulations issued by the Director.
(2) With respect to its application to any entity described in
paragraph (1), any surcharge or fee charged under subsection (c) or
(d) shall not be higher than the surcharge or fee required of any
other entity under the same or substantially similar circumstances.
(i)(1) The Director shall maintain, for use by the public, paper,
microform, or electronic collections of United States patents,
foreign patent documents, and United States trademark registrations
arranged to permit search for and retrieval of information. The
Director may not impose fees directly for the use of such
collections, or for the use of the public patent or trademark
search rooms or libraries.
(2) The Director shall provide for the full deployment of the
automated search systems of the Patent and Trademark Office so that
such systems are available for use by the public, and shall assure
full access by the public to, and dissemination of, patent and
trademark information, using a variety of automated methods,
including electronic bulletin boards and remote access by users to
mass storage and retrieval systems.
(3) The Director may establish reasonable fees for access by the
public to the automated search systems of the Patent and Trademark
Office. If such fees are established, a limited amount of free
access shall be made available to users of the systems for purposes
of education and training. The Director may waive the payment by an
individual of fees authorized by this subsection upon a showing of
need or hardship, and if such a waiver is in the public interest.
(4) The Director shall submit to the Congress an annual report on
the automated search systems of the Patent and Trademark Office and
the access by the public to such systems. The Director shall also
publish such report in the Federal Register. The Director shall
provide an opportunity for the submission of comments by interested
persons on each such report.
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