The annual patent fee can be paid for a few years at most.

Legal analysis: 1. Pay the annual fee for the next year in advance within one month before the patent application date. If the annual fee cannot be paid in advance for many years, the fee for the next year can only be paid within the above-mentioned specified time.

2. The Patent Office has also given a grace period of six months, but it needs to pay different amounts of late fees according to the length of the grace period.

3. If it is not paid after the grace period of six months, the Patent Office will issue a "Notice of Termination of Patent Right". If the payment cannot be made within the above-mentioned time limit due to justifiable reasons or force majeure, the patentee may request the restoration of rights within two months after receiving the notice, and at the same time make up the annual fee that should be paid.

Legal basis: Article 93 of the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) shall pay the following fees when applying for a patent and going through other formalities with the patent administration department of the State Council:

(1) Application fee, application surcharge, publication and printing fee and priority claim fee;

(2) Examination fee and reexamination fee for an application for a patent for invention;

(3) Patent registration fee, announcement printing fee and annual fee;

(four) the right to recover the claim fee and the extension of the claim fee;

(five) the specification change fee, the patent evaluation report request fee and the request fee for invalidation.

The payment standards of the fees listed in the preceding paragraph shall be stipulated by the price management department of the State Council and the financial department in conjunction with the patent administration department of the State Council.