What is the impact of attorney withdrawal on maintenance fee payments?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

The withdrawal of an attorney can impact maintenance fee payments in the following ways:

• The responsibility for payment shifts to the patent owner if no new attorney is appointed.
• The USPTO will send maintenance fee reminders to the correspondence address on record.
• If the address changes due to withdrawal, the patent owner must update it to ensure receipt of reminders.

MPEP 2560 emphasizes: “The withdrawal of an attorney may not be used to delay proceedings in an application.” This includes the timely payment of maintenance fees. Patent owners should ensure they have a system in place to track and pay fees even if their attorney withdraws.