Large, small, or micro entity? Check your USPTO fee status.
Answer a few yes/no questions about the applicant, the inventors, and who holds rights in the invention. The wizard applies the small entity and micro entity rules in 37 CFR 1.27 and 1.29 and links every question to the regulation behind it.
About 2 minutes. No sign-up.
How it works
Answer one question at a time
Each question covers a single requirement, such as the employee limit for the business and its affiliates, licenses to larger companies, or the gross income limit for micro entity status.
See your result and the rule behind it
Find out whether your answers point to undiscounted fees, small entity status, or micro entity status, and which regulations decide it.
Compare your fees
See the issue fee and all three maintenance fees at each fee level, and how much a discount saves over the life of a patent.
Issue and maintenance fees at each fee level
Undiscounted
$15,760
Small entity
$6,304
$9,456 less than undiscounted fees
Micro entity
$3,152
$12,608 less than undiscounted fees
Utility issue fee plus the three maintenance fees, at USPTO fee amounts effective January 19, 2025. Filing, search, and examination fees and late payment surcharges are not included. See sources
Frequently asked questions
Entity status determines which fee tier a patent applicant pays. There are three tiers: undiscounted (often called large entity), small entity, and micro entity. Applicants who establish small or micro entity status may pay certain patent fees, including issue and maintenance fees, at reduced amounts.
Three kinds of parties can qualify: individuals, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations. A business qualifies if it has no more than 500 employees, counting its affiliates. Nonprofits include universities and other institutions of higher education, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations, and certain nonprofit scientific or educational organizations. In every case, no rights in the invention may have been transferred, or be obligated to be transferred, to a party that would not itself qualify.
Both routes require the applicant to qualify as a small entity first. The gross income basis also requires that the applicant and every inventor stay within limits on prior applications and gross income, and that no license or ownership interest has gone to a party over the income limit. The institution of higher education basis instead requires that the applicant's main employer is an institution of higher education, or that a license or ownership interest in the application has been or must be given to one. The second route does not depend on income or on how many applications you have filed.
The limit is three times the median household income reported by the Census Bureau. The USPTO publishes the resulting dollar figure and updates it each September. When you pay a fee, compare gross income from the calendar year before the year of payment against the limit in effect on the payment date. Gross income is as defined in section 61(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, and income in another currency is converted at the IRS average exchange rate for that year. The wizard always shows the current limit.
Under the gross income basis, neither the applicant nor any inventor may have been named on more than four previously filed patent applications. Applications filed in another country, U.S. provisional applications, and international applications for which the U.S. basic national fee was never paid do not count. An application also does not count if, because of a previous job, all ownership rights in it were assigned or had to be assigned.
Yes. For small entity status, every party holding rights in the invention must qualify. For micro entity status on the gross income basis, the application limit and the income limit apply to the applicant and to every inventor and joint inventor. One co-inventor over the income limit is enough to rule out that route.
The rules differ by tier. Once small entity status is established, you must check again whether you still qualify when the issue fee and each maintenance fee come due. A micro entity fee can be paid only if you still qualify on the date you pay it. If you no longer qualify, you must file a notification of loss of entitlement before or when you pay the next affected fee. Simply paying the higher amount does not count as that notification.
Make a signed written assertion of small entity status in the application. No special wording is required as long as the intent is clear. Paying the exact small entity amount of certain basic filing or national fees also counts as an assertion. Status must be claimed separately in each continuing, divisional, and reissue application.
File a signed micro entity certification. The USPTO provides form PTO/SB/15A for the gross income basis and PTO/SB/15B for the institution of higher education basis. A micro entity fee can be paid only with or after the certification. Each continuing, divisional, and reissue application needs its own certification.
If micro entity status was claimed in good faith and later turns out to be wrong, the error can be excused by paying the deficiency: the difference between each fee you paid and the current small or undiscounted amount, itemized and filed separately for each application or patent. Establishing status or paying fees improperly and with intent to deceive is treated as fraud on the USPTO.
Possibly not, for small entity status. Certain government use licenses arising from federal funding, federal agency action, or a federal employee co-inventor do not prevent claiming small entity status. Micro entity status, however, cannot rely on that exception. The wizard does not evaluate these licenses. If one applies to you, consult a registered patent practitioner.
No. The wizard applies the published regulations to the answers you give and shows the rules it relied on. It cannot verify your facts or account for circumstances it does not ask about. You are responsible for the accuracy of any entity status you claim to the USPTO. If you are unsure, consult a registered patent practitioner.