How does the USPTO handle discounted maintenance fee payments without proper entity status?

When a maintenance fee payment is submitted at a discounted rate (small or micro entity) without proper documentation of entity status, the USPTO will consider it insufficient. According to MPEP 2531:

“If a payment is deemed insufficient because the payment was submitted in a discounted amount but entitlement to the entity status (small or micro) corresponding to the discounted amount was not established, an Underpayment Notice or Non-Acceptance Notice will be mailed to the fee submitter.”

In such cases, the patent owner must respond to the notice by either:

• Providing documentation to establish the claimed entity status, or
• Paying the difference to meet the standard (undiscounted) fee amount

For more information on establishing or changing entity status for maintenance fee purposes, refer to MPEP 2550.

To learn more:

• maintenance fees
• discounted payments
• entity status
• small entity
• micro entity