How can I pay maintenance fees for multiple patents at once?
You can submit maintenance fee payments for multiple patents in a single submission. MPEP 2522 provides guidance on this process:
“Maintenance fees for a number of patents can be submitted together in one submission and one payment. 37 CFR 1.366(e) specifies that if maintenance fee payments for more than one patent are submitted together, they should be submitted on as few sheets as possible, listing the patent numbers in increasing patent number order.“
It’s important to note that if the payment submitted is insufficient to cover all listed patents, the payment will be applied in the order the patents are listed. This means that maintenance fees for the last listed patents may not be paid if the total amount is insufficient.
To learn more:
Topics:
MPEP 2500 - Maintenance Fees,
MPEP 2522 - Methods Of Payment,
Patent Law,
Patent Procedure