ePetition Filing Requirements: Petition to Accept Late Payment of Issue Fee - Unintentional Late Payment (37 CFR 1.137 (a))

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Below are the general filing requirements for an ePetition requesting to revive an application to accept late payment of the issue fee, pursuant to 37 CFR 1.137(a)):

  • Only registered users of the Patent Electronic System may file this petition as an ePetition.

  • The user must enter a valid U.S. application number.

  • The application number entered must not be for an issued patent.

  • The application must be in an abandoned status and the abandonment date must be less than 2 years prior to the filing date of the petition.

  • The application has to have been allowed.

  • The Issue Fee must have been paid.

  • If the filer has power of attorney, a valid Registration Number must be entered.

  • The filer is required to upload the Issue Fee Payment (PTO-85B) document. Corrected drawings or other documents may be uploaded. 

  • The filer must indicate the current entity status. 

NOTE: A successful ePetition submission will result in an Electronic Acknowledgement Receipt and Grant Letter being generated. Petitioners should verify that the information on the Electronic Acknowledgement Receipt and Grant Letter is complete and accurate as proof that the ePetition submission was successful.

Additional information on petitions to revive based on unintentional delay under 37 CFR 1.137 is available on the  Common types of petitions handled by the Office of Petitions web page.