According to the patent law, the patentee has the obligation to pay the annual fee according to law. Except that the annual fee for the year when the patent right is granted shall be paid at the same time as the registration formalities, the annual fee for the future shall be paid in advance within one month before the expiration of the previous year. The year here refers to the patent year, which is not necessarily related to the natural year. The patent year is counted from the date of application and is not affected by the priority date and authorization date. If the patentee fails to pay the annual fee according to law (excluding the annual fee of the year when the patent right was granted) or the amount paid is insufficient, it may pay it within six months from the date of expiration of the annual fee. If the overdue period exceeds the prescribed time limit but is less than one month, the overdue fine will not be paid; If the overdue time exceeds the specified time by one month, the overdue fine shall be paid in accordance with the regulations.
Second, how to calculate the late fee for patent annual fee?
(1) If the term exceeds 1 day to 1 month (including 1 whole month), you only need to pay the annual fee, and you don't need to pay the late fee.
(2) If the overdue payment exceeds 1 month to 2 months (including 2 whole months), the amount of overdue payment shall be 5% of the annual fee.
(3) If the overdue payment is more than 2 months to 3 months (including 3 whole months), the amount of overdue payment shall be 10% of the annual fee.
(4) After the stipulated period of 3 months to 4 months (including 4 whole months), the amount of overdue fine payable is 65438+ 05% of the annual expenses.
(5) If it exceeds the prescribed period of 4 months to 5 months (including 5 whole months), the amount of overdue fine payable shall be 20% of the annual expenses.
(6) If it exceeds the prescribed period of 5 to 6 months (including 6 whole months), the amount of overdue fine payable shall be 25% of the annual expenses.