The annual patent fee refers to the fee that the patentee pays to the Patent Office year by year in order to maintain the validity of his patent right. It is paid to maintain the validity of the patent right, so it is also called patent maintenance fee. In other words, the patent fee is paid every year, and the payment date is also specified, and it must be paid on the specified date.
Second, the purpose of collecting annual patent fees.
First of all, the collection of annual fees plays a regulatory role in maintaining the effectiveness of patent rights. The maintenance of the patent right comes at a price, so the patentee has to consider whether it is necessary to spend increasing annual fees to maintain the validity of the patent right and promote the implementation of the patent. Secondly, charging an annual fee can compensate the patent office for its expenses in patent work and reduce the burden on the state.
3. What are the conditions for applying for fee waiver?
Article 3 of the Measures for the Reduction and Exemption of Patent Fees stipulates:
If the patent applicant or patentee meets one of the following conditions, he may request China National Intellectual Property Administration to reduce or exempt the above fees: (1) an individual with an average monthly income of less than 3,500 yuan (42,000 yuan a year); (2) Enterprises with taxable income of less than 300,000 yuan in the previous year; (3) Institutions, social organizations and non-profit scientific research institutions. Where two or more individuals or units are the same patent applicant or patentee, they shall abide by the provisions of the preceding paragraph respectively.
4. What materials do you need to provide for patent fee relief?
1. Personal subject: proof of income in the previous year and a copy of ID card are required. On-the-job: annual income certificate issued by the unit. Unemployed person: the certificate issued by the county-level civil affairs department or the township people's government (street office) where the household registration is located or where the habitual residence is located.
2. Enterprise entity: If it has been established for one year, it is required to provide a copy of the annual enterprise income tax return for the previous year, and it is required to submit a copy of the annual enterprise income tax return for the previous year during the final settlement; Copy of the business license of the enterprise. If it has been established for less than one year, a copy of the business license of the enterprise can be provided.
3, institutions, social organizations, non-profit scientific research institutions
You only need to provide a certificate of legal person.
5. How to reduce the patent fee?
Application route
1. Open the patent affairs service system online, register account information and log in to the system.
2. Click "Agree with the above statement" and "Continue".
3. Click to enter the column of "Fee Reduction and Filing Business".
4. Click "Go now → Deal with the business → Agree → Submit → Fill in the filing information of the fee reduction voucher → Preview → Click" Submit "after no problem.
5. Upload relevant supporting documents and submit the original documents to the local municipal patent administration department within one month.