US patent maintenance fees: 2025 amounts, due dates & how they work
A granted US patent isn't a one-time purchase — you have to pay the USPTO three maintenance fees over its life to keep it in force. Miss one and the patent lapses. Here's exactly what they cost in 2025, when they're due, and how to make sure you never miss a payment.
When are maintenance fees due?
US utility patents carry three maintenance fees, due at set points measured from the grant date (not the filing date):
- 1st fee — 3.5 years after grant
- 2nd fee — 7.5 years after grant
- 3rd fee — 11.5 years after grant
Each fee can be paid, without any surcharge, in the six months before the due date. If you miss it, there's a further six-month grace period after the due date during which you can still pay — but with a late surcharge. After the grace period ends, the patent expires. (Design patents and plant patents don't carry maintenance fees — this applies to utility patents.)
2025 maintenance-fee amounts
The USPTO fee amounts below took effect on 19 January 2025. What you pay depends on your entity size: large (undiscounted), small entity (40% of the large fee), or micro entity (20%).
| Maintenance fee | Large entity | Small entity | Micro entity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5-year (1st) | $2,150 | $860 | $430 |
| 7.5-year (2nd) | $4,040 | $1,616 | $808 |
| 11.5-year (3rd) | $8,280 | $3,312 | $1,656 |
| Total over the life | $14,470 | $5,788 | $2,894 |
A late payment inside the grace period adds a surcharge on top of these amounts. Filing dates and grant dates move the deadlines around, so the safest way to know your exact dates and totals is to calculate them from the live record — see the free tools below.
Which entity size are you?
- Large / undiscounted — most companies, and anyone who has licensed the patent to a large entity.
- Small entity — independent inventors, small businesses (generally <500 employees) and non-profits. Pays 40%.
- Micro entity — small entities that also meet an income limit and a cap on prior filings. Pays 20%.
Entity status can change over the life of a patent (for example, if you license to a large company), and paying the wrong amount can create problems later — so it's worth confirming your status before each payment.
What happens if you miss a maintenance fee?
Once the six-month grace period ends, the patent lapses — it's no longer enforceable, and competitors are free to practise the invention. In some cases a lapsed patent can be revived by petition if the delay was "unintentional," with additional fees, but revival is never guaranteed and gets harder the longer you wait.
The painful part is the maths: the reminder that would have saved the patent costs nothing, while the right it protects can be worth orders of magnitude more. This is why missed maintenance fees are one of the most common — and most avoidable — ways a valuable patent dies.
Check your maintenance fees free
Paste your patent numbers and see every upcoming maintenance fee, the exact dates, and the total over the coming years — pulled live from the USPTO. No signup.
How to never miss one
- Know your three dates for every granted patent — 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years from grant.
- Diarise the window, not just the date — you can pay in the six months before, so set a reminder ~6 months out.
- Confirm entity size before each payment.
- Track the whole portfolio in one place so a single case can't slip through — especially if different attorneys or firms handle different patents.
That last point is where most misses happen: deadlines scattered across attorney dockets and spreadsheets. IP Axix pulls your whole US and European portfolio from the patent offices, calculates every deadline automatically, and reminds you before each one — so a date is never the reason a patent lapses. Book a 20-minute walkthrough to see it on your own patents.
Related free tools
- Maintenance-fee estimator — the 3.5/7.5/11.5-year schedule and amounts for any patent.
- Renewal cost forecast — total US & European upkeep, year by year.
- Full portfolio audit — every upcoming deadline plus a health score.
Related reading
- When does a patent expire? — the full lifecycle and every deadline that keeps a patent alive.
- EPO renewal fees — how European annual renewals work, alongside the US fees above.
- US office action deadline — how long you have to respond before grant.
- What is patent docketing? — the discipline of tracking every one of these dates.
- What happens if you miss a deadline? — abandonment, lapse and revival.
This article is general information based on the USPTO fee schedule effective 19 January 2025 and is not legal advice. Fees and rules change; always verify current amounts and your entity status against the official USPTO record, and confirm any critical date or payment with your patent attorney.