The Life of a Utility Patent

       he term of a utility patent is twenty (20) years from the filing date. A maintenance fee of $490, (or $980 for a large company) payable to the United States Patent & Trademark Office is due three and one half years after the original grant, $1,240 ($2,480) after seven and one half years and $2,055 ($4,110) after eleven and one half years for all patents issuing from applications filed on and after October 2, 2008. The maintenance fee must be paid at the stipulated times to maintain the patent in force. The fee amounts are subject to change by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Also, the fees are doubled for inventive entities having five hundred or more employees.