USPTO maintenance fee window and cost, 2026 schedule
Turn a US patent grant date into the three USPTO fee windows, the 2026 amounts, and the cost of missing each one
Stage in play
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Window opens
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date
Due with no surcharge
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date
Grace ends, patent expires
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date
Days to the no-surcharge date
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days
Fee inside the window
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USD
Fee plus grace surcharge
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USD
Cost to revive after expiry
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USD
Docket total payable now
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USD
Where you stand
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All three windows from one grant date A US utility patent carries three maintenance fees, due at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years from the grant date. Each window opens six months early and closes six months late. The checker walks a grant date of 2019-03-12 forward: the 7.5-year window opened 2026-03-12, the no-surcharge due date was 2026-09-12, and the patent expires 2027-03-12.
2026 fee amounts, not last year's Amounts come from the USPTO fee schedule effective 2025-01-19 and revised 2026-08-14: 2150 / 4040 / 8280 large entity, with 60 percent off for small entities and 80 percent off for micro entities. For a small entity at the 7.5-year stage that is 1616, and 1832 once the 216 grace surcharge is added.
What the miss actually costs Past the grace date the patent is expired and only a 37 CFR 1.378 petition brings it back. The checker prices that path too: for the same small-entity 7.5-year fee the revival costs 2520, because the 904 petition fee for a delay of one year or less rides on top of the 1616 fee.
Entity status is re-determined at every payment Under 37 CFR 1.27(g) small and micro entity status must be established afresh at each maintenance fee payment, so a company that grew or licensed to a large entity since the last payment owes the undiscounted amount. Tick the checkbox and every figure recomputes at large-entity rates.
Docket total for patents sharing a stage Paralegals rarely pay one fee alone. Give the number of patents sitting in the same window and the checker multiplies the payable amount, so six small-entity patents inside the 7.5-year grace period come to 10992 rather than 1832.