Annual fee, called maintenance fee or renewal fee in some countries, is an obligation that the patentee must bear in order to maintain the validity of his patent right. The patentee is required to pay the annual fee on time, on the one hand, because China National Intellectual Property Administration still provides services for the patentee after authorization, and the patentee should pay the relevant fees; On the other hand, the annual fee can be used as an economic lever to urge the patentee to give up the patents with no economic value for free use by the public.
Article 43 of China's patent law stipulates that the patentee shall pay the annual fee from the year when the patent right is granted. Article 98 of the Patent Law stipulates that the annual fee after the year in which the patent right is granted shall be paid before the expiration of the previous year. If the patentee fails to pay or fails to pay in full, the administrative department for patent in the State Council shall notify the patentee to pay the annual fee within 6 months from the date when the annual fee should be paid, and at the same time pay the late fee. The amount of the late payment fee is calculated by adding 5% of the full annual fee of the current year for every 1 month that exceeds the prescribed payment time; If it is not paid at the expiration of the time limit, the patent right shall be terminated from the date when the annual fee should be paid.
Generally speaking, the annual patent fee is debited to the management fee-the patent late fee is credited to the cash on hand; If it belongs to the state administrative organ, a late fee shall be added in the final settlement of enterprise income tax.
Calculation of late fee for patent annual fee
If the patentee fails to pay the annual fee on time (excluding the annual fee of the year when the patent right was granted) or the amount paid is insufficient, he may pay the late fee within six months from the date of expiration of the annual fee. If the overdue fee exceeds the prescribed time limit but is less than one month, the overdue fee will not be paid. If the overdue fee exceeds the prescribed period of one month, the corresponding amount of overdue fee calculated according to the following calculation method shall be paid:
(1) If the term exceeds one month (excluding one whole month) to two months (including two whole months), the payment amount shall be 5% of the full annual fee;
(2) If the term exceeds two to three months (including three whole months), the payment amount shall be10% of the annual fee;
(3) If the term exceeds three to four months (including four whole months), the payment amount shall be15% of the full annual fee;
(four) for a period of more than four to five months (including five whole months), the payment amount is 20% of the annual expenses;
(5) If the term exceeds five to six months, the payment amount shall be 25% of the annual expenses.
In the overdue period of six months, if the first payment is insufficient and the payment is overdue again, the amount of the late payment fee shall be the full annual fee exceeding the corresponding percentage of the specified month when the payment is overdue again. In case of termination due to overdue or insufficient payment of annual fee and/or late payment fee, 25% of the full annual fee shall be paid or supplemented in addition to the annual fee in the recovery procedure.
Ok, the above questions about the late fee for patent annual fee have been comprehensively sorted out for everyone. What subjects does the late fee for patent annual fee include? Generally speaking, the late fee for patent annual fee is debited from the management fee and credited to cash on hand or bank deposit. At the same time, it should be remembered that the enterprise income tax should be adjusted and increased according to the regulations when it is fined by the state administrative organ.