Can You Renew a Patent? Maintenance Fees, Patent Term & Expiration (2026)

By Michael Meyer, USPTO-Registered Patent Attorney | Chemistry Degree, University of Nebraska Omaha | J.D., Creighton University | Updated February 2026

The short answer: No, you cannot renew a patent after it expires. Once a utility patent's 20-year term ends, the invention enters the public domain permanently. Anyone can make, use, or sell it without your permission, and there is no mechanism to extend or renew that exclusivity.

However — and this is where confusion arises — you must pay maintenance fees to keep a patent in force during its 20-year term. If you miss a maintenance fee payment, the patent lapses before its natural expiration date, and in most cases, that lapse is permanent. Many people refer to these maintenance fees as "renewal fees," but that's technically incorrect. You're not renewing the patent; you're paying to maintain it.

This guide explains how long patents actually last, what maintenance fees are and when they're due, what happens if you miss a payment, whether patent term can ever be extended, and what it means when a patent expires.

Table of Contents

1. How Long Does a Patent Last?
2. What Are Patent Maintenance Fees?
3. Maintenance Fee Schedule & Costs
4. What Happens If You Miss a Maintenance Fee?
5. Can You Reinstate a Lapsed Patent?
6. Patent Term Extensions: When You Can Get Extra Time
7. What Happens When a Patent Expires?
8. Design Patents vs. Utility Patents: Different Rules
9. Strategies for Managing Patent Portfolios
10. Frequently Asked Questions

1. How Long Does a Patent Last?

Patent duration depends on the type of patent:

Important: For utility patents, the 20-year term runs from the filing date of the earliest non-provisional application to which the patent claims priority. If you filed a provisional patent application and then converted it to a non-provisional within 12 months, the 20-year clock starts from the non-provisional filing date, not the provisional.

Example: You file a provisional patent on January 1, 2025. You file the non-provisional on December 1, 2025 (within the 12-month window). The patent grants on March 1, 2028. The patent expires 20 years from December 1, 2025 = December 1, 2045.

Since patents take 2–4 years to grant on average, the actual enforceable term is typically 16–18 years from the grant date, not a full 20 years of market exclusivity.

2. What Are Patent Maintenance Fees?

Utility patents require periodic maintenance fee payments to remain in force. These fees are due at three intervals after the patent is granted:

• 3.5 years after the grant date
• 7.5 years after the grant date
• 11.5 years after the grant date

If you don't pay a maintenance fee on time, the patent lapses — meaning it expires early, before the end of its 20-year term. Once lapsed, the patent is generally unenforceable, and the invention enters the public domain.

Why do maintenance fees exist? The USPTO charges maintenance fees to:

• Generate revenue to fund patent examination operations
• Clear inactive patents from the registry (if a patent holder stops paying, it's a signal the patent is no longer commercially valuable)
• Encourage patent holders to abandon patents they're not using, freeing up the technology for public use

Design patents and plant patents do not require maintenance fees. Once granted, they remain in force for their full term (15 years for design patents, 20 years for plant patents) with no additional payments required.

3. Maintenance Fee Schedule & Costs

Maintenance fees are tiered — they increase at each interval to reflect the extended value of keeping the patent in force. Fees also vary based on entity size:

Note: Fee amounts are current as of 2026 and subject to change. Check the USPTO fee schedule for updated rates.

Entity Size Definitions:

• Micro Entity: Individual inventors or very small businesses meeting specific income and filing thresholds (gross income under ~$200K, fewer than 5 prior patent applications)
• Small Entity: Businesses with fewer than 500 employees, universities, and non-profits
• Large Entity: All other applicants (corporations over 500 employees, or anyone not qualifying as micro/small)

If your entity status changes (e.g., you were a micro entity when the patent issued, but your company grew and no longer qualifies), you must pay at the higher rate going forward.

4. What Happens If You Miss a Maintenance Fee?

If you miss a maintenance fee deadline, the patent does not immediately expire. The USPTO provides a 6-month grace period during which you can pay the fee with a surcharge.

Timeline:

1. Due date: Maintenance fee is due within the 6-month window before the 3.5, 7.5, or 11.5 year anniversary of the grant date.
2. Grace period: If you miss the due date, you have 6 months to pay with a surcharge (currently $108 for micro entities, $216 for small entities, $540 for large entities).
3. Lapse: If you do not pay within the grace period, the patent lapses and is listed as "expired due to failure to pay maintenance fees" on the USPTO's public record.

Example: Your patent was granted on March 15, 2022. The 3.5-year maintenance fee is due between September 15, 2025 and March 15, 2026. If you don't pay by March 15, 2026, you have until September 15, 2026 to pay with a surcharge. If you still don't pay, the patent lapses on September 16, 2026.

Effect of Lapse: Once a patent lapses, it is generally unenforceable. You cannot sue for infringement that occurred after the lapse date. The invention enters the public domain, and competitors are free to make, use, and sell it.

5. Can You Reinstate a Lapsed Patent?

In limited circumstances, yes — but it's difficult and rarely granted.

Petition for Reinstatement (37 CFR 1.17(m)(2))

The USPTO allows reinstatement of a lapsed patent if you can demonstrate that the failure to pay the maintenance fee was unintentional. You must file a petition within two years, pay the overdue maintenance fee, pay the reinstatement fee (currently $2,000+ depending on entity size), and provide evidence that the lapse was not deliberate abandonment.

Petition for Reinstatement (37 CFR 1.17(m)(1))

You may file a petition with a delay greater than two years, pay the overdue maintenance fee, pay the reinstatement fee (currently $3,000 depending on entity size), and provide evidence that the lapse was not deliberate abandonment.

If this petition is filed more than two years after the date the priority or benefit claim was due, the United States Patent and Trademark Office requires an additional explanation of the circumstances surrounding the delay that establishes the entire delay was unintentional. Be advised this is difficult to establish and not a provision to rely on.

What qualifies as "unintentional":

• Administrative error (payment was sent but not processed)
• Patent owner believed payment was made but it was lost or misdirected
• Change in company ownership or attorney representation led to missed deadline

What does NOT qualify:

• Business decision to abandon the patent
• Deliberate non-payment with intent to let the patent expire

Important limitation: Even if reinstatement is granted, intervening rights may apply. If a third party started using the invention during the period when the patent was lapsed, they may have the right to continue using it even after reinstatement.

Bottom line: Reinstatement is possible but uncertain and expensive. It's far better to pay maintenance fees on time or use a professional annuity service to track deadlines.

6. Patent Term Extensions: When You Can Get Extra Time

Although you cannot renew a patent after its 20-year term expires, there are two narrow circumstances where patent term can be extended:

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) — 35 U.S.C. § 154(b)

If the USPTO delays examination beyond certain statutory deadlines (e.g., taking longer than 3 years from filing to grant due to USPTO delays, not applicant delays), the patent term is automatically adjusted to compensate for the delay.

Example: A patent application filed in 2020 should have been examined and granted by 2023 under normal timelines, but due to USPTO backlog, it wasn't granted until 2025. The patent term is extended by the amount of delay attributable to the USPTO — potentially adding months or even years to the 20-year term.

PTA is calculated automatically by the USPTO and appears on the face of the patent when it issues.

Patent Term Extension (PTE) — 35 U.S.C. § 156 (Hatch-Waxman Act)

For certain pharmaceutical and medical device patents, the patent term can be extended to compensate for time lost during FDA regulatory review. This is known as a Hatch-Waxman extension and can add up to 5 years to the patent term.

Requirements:

• The patent covers a drug, medical device, food additive, or color additive
• The product required FDA premarket approval
• The patent had not yet expired when FDA approval was granted
• Application for PTE must be filed within 60 days of FDA approval

This is specific to highly regulated industries and does not apply to most patents. If you have a pharmaceutical or medical device patent, consult with a patent attorney about PTE eligibility before the FDA approval date.

Terminal Disclaimers (Not an Extension — Actually Shortens Term)

If you have multiple related patents filed as continuations or divisionals, and the USPTO issues a "obviousness-type double patenting" rejection, you may need to file a terminal disclaimer. This shortens the term of the later patent to match the expiration date of the earlier one, ensuring both patents expire on the same date. This is not an extension; it's a deliberate shortening to overcome a rejection.

7. What Happens When a Patent Expires?

When a patent expires — whether due to the end of its 20-year term or failure to pay maintenance fees — the following occurs:

• The invention enters the public domain: Anyone can make, use, sell, or import the invention without permission and without paying royalties.
• You lose all exclusivity: Competitors are free to copy the invention exactly, and you have no legal recourse.
• Generic competition begins: In pharmaceuticals, this is when generic drugs enter the market. In other industries, competitors launch "me-too" products.
• Patent cannot be revived: Once the 20-year term expires, there is no mechanism to extend or renew it. The expiration is permanent.

Can you still use the invention? Yes — the patent owner retains the right to practice the invention after expiration, but so does everyone else. The patent no longer provides any competitive advantage.

Can you file a new patent on improvements? Yes. If you make improvements or modifications to the original invention after the patent expires, you can file a new patent on the improved version. However, the original invention remains in the public domain, so competitors can still make the non-improved version.

8. Design Patents vs. Utility Patents: Different Rules

Design patents have different maintenance requirements than utility patents:

Because design patents require no maintenance fees, once granted, they remain in force for the full 15-year term with no additional costs. This makes design patents administratively simpler than utility patents.

9. Strategies for Managing Patent Portfolios

If you hold multiple patents or plan to file several over time, managing maintenance fees becomes a strategic business decision.

When to Pay Maintenance Fees:

• The patent covers a product currently generating revenue
• The patent is being licensed to third parties and producing royalty income
• The patent blocks competitors from entering your market
• The patent increases company valuation (important for startups positioning for acquisition)
• The technology protected by the patent is still commercially relevant

When to Abandon Patents (Let Them Lapse):

• The product is no longer sold or manufactured
• The technology is obsolete and has been replaced by newer innovations
• The patent has weak claims and would be difficult to enforce
• The cost of maintenance fees exceeds the value the patent provides
• Maintaining the patent prevents you from improving the invention (terminal disclaimer issues)

Use Patent Annuity Services

Large companies and patent holders with portfolios of 10+ patents often use patent annuity services to track maintenance fee deadlines and make payments automatically. These services charge a small annual fee per patent and ensure no deadlines are missed.

For individual inventors or small businesses, calendar reminders set 6 months before each maintenance fee due date are usually sufficient.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

Can you renew a patent after 20 years?

No. Once a utility patent's 20-year term expires, it cannot be renewed or extended (except in very limited cases involving FDA regulatory delays for pharmaceutical patents). The invention enters the public domain permanently, and anyone can use it without restriction.

What happens if I don't pay patent maintenance fees?

If you miss a maintenance fee deadline, you have a 6-month grace period to pay with a surcharge. If you still don't pay, the patent lapses and becomes unenforceable. The invention enters the public domain, and competitors can freely use it. In some cases, you can petition for reinstatement, but this is expensive and not guaranteed.

How much do patent maintenance fees cost?

For utility patents, maintenance fees are due at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years after the patent grants. For small entities, the total cost over the patent's life is approximately $5,788 ($860 + $1,616 + $3,312). Micro entities pay about half that amount; large entities pay double. Design patents require no maintenance fees.

Do design patents require maintenance fees?

No. Design patents last 15 years from the grant date with no maintenance fees required. Once granted, they remain in force for the full term with no additional payments.

Can I get a patent term extension?

In limited cases, yes. Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) compensates for USPTO delays during examination. Patent Term Extension (PTE) under the Hatch-Waxman Act applies to pharmaceutical and medical device patents that underwent FDA regulatory review. These extensions can add months or even years to the patent term, but they apply only in specific circumstances.

What is the difference between patent expiration and patent lapse?

Expiration means the patent reached the end of its statutory term (20 years for utility patents, 15 years for design patents) and can no longer be enforced. Lapse means the patent expired early due to failure to pay maintenance fees. Both have the same practical effect: the invention enters the public domain.

Can I file a new patent on an expired invention?

No. Once an invention has been publicly disclosed in an expired patent, it is prior art and cannot be re-patented. However, if you develop improvements or modifications to the original invention, you can file a new patent on those improvements. The original invention remains in the public domain, but the improved version can be protected.

How do I check when my patent maintenance fees are due?

You can check maintenance fee status on the USPTO's Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront (https://fees.uspto.gov/MaintenanceFees). Enter your patent number, and the system will show the due dates and payment status for all three maintenance fees.

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