What happens if I submit a maintenance fee payment that doesn’t match my entity status of record?

If you submit a maintenance fee payment that conflicts with the USPTO’s record of your entity status, you will receive a notice. MPEP 2550 explains:

• If you overpay (based on the entity status of record), you’ll receive an Overpayment Notice.
• If you underpay (based on the entity status of record), you’ll receive an Underpayment Notice.

In both cases, you’ll have a non-extendable ONE MONTH period from the mailing date of the notice to respond. Your response may involve filing a notification of loss of entitlement to small or micro entity status, submitting additional fees, or providing documentation to support your claimed entity status.

To learn more:

• maintenance fee payment
• entity status mismatch
• overpayment
• underpayment
• patent fees