What happens if you don't pay the annual patent fee?

The patent law stipulates that if the annual fee is not paid in accordance with the regulations, the patent right will be terminated before the expiration of the time limit.

There are three kinds of patents, namely, invention patents, utility model patents and design patents. Except for design patents, the term is 15 years, and others are 10 years. If the patent fails to pay the annual fee within six months, if it pays the annual fee in the first month, it will not pay the late fee. However, if it is more than one month to two months (including two months), it shall be paid according to the standard of 5% of the full annual fee. If the time limit exceeds two to three months (including three months), the payment amount shall be 10% of the annual fee, and so on. If the annual fee is insufficient, the overdue fine that should be paid is the full annual fee that exceeds the corresponding proportion in the specified month when it is paid again. Of course, if the patentee is unable to pay the annual fee due to natural or man-made disasters or other unexpected circumstances, he can explain to the Patent Office that the late payment fee can be reduced or exempted. However, pregnancy, marriage and childbirth are not force majeure factors and are not recognized by the Patent Office.

However, if the annual fee is not paid on time or the amount paid is insufficient, and it has not been paid six months after the expiration of the annual fee, you will receive a patent notice from the administrative department. At this time, the patentee still has a chance to remedy. He can pay the patent recovery fee of RMB 1 000 and the annual patent fee and late payment fee within two months after receiving the notice. He also needs to submit an application for patent restoration and issue patent-related certificates. In case of termination due to overdue or insufficient payment of annual fee or late payment fee, the late payment fee paid in the recovery procedure is 25% of the annual fee.

However, if the patentee fails to go through the formalities of patent restoration two months after receiving the notice of patent termination, the patent will become a public patent, and the patentee will permanently lose the patent right and cannot restore it. But if you want to get a patent again after losing it, you can apply again, and the patentee has priority.