Notice of allowance and the issue fee

What the notice of allowance contains

Under 37 CFR 1.311(a) , when the application appears entitled to a patent the USPTO sends a notice of allowance stating the issue fee and any publication fee due. In practice you receive:

• Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due (PTOL-85) , with the amount due and the date it was mailed. Part B, the Fee(s) Transmittal (PTOL-85B), goes back with the payment ( MPEP 1306 ).
• Notice of Allowability (PTOL-37) , listing the allowed claims, any examiner's amendment, and any references cited ( MPEP 1302 ).
• Reasons for allowance , if the examiner gives them. You may file comments on them ( 37 CFR 1.104(e)). Read them carefully: they become part of the file history that a court may later use to read the claims.

Allowance often follows an office action response or an examiner interview. If the notice includes an examiner's amendment you did not agree to, raise it before paying.

The issue fee in 2026

Amounts from 37 CFR 1.18 and the USPTO fee schedule in force since January 19, 2025.

The publication fee is $0 for notices from January 1, 2014 (37 CFR 1.18(d)(1)). Before paying at the small or micro rate, confirm the applicant still qualifies: 37 CFR 1.27(g) requires a new determination of entitlement when the issue fee is due, and a loss of status must be notified before or with the payment. See small entity vs micro entity .

The 3-month deadline

The issue fee is due 3 months from the mailing date of the notice, and that period is not extendable (37 CFR 1.311(a), MPEP 1306). The usual month-by-month extensions under 37 CFR 1.136(a) do not apply (see our USPTO extension of time guide for which deadlines can be extended). If the fee is not paid, the application is abandoned.

It can be revived by a petition under 37 CFR 1.137 stating that the delay was unintentional, with the issue fee and the petition fee: $2,260 ( $904 small, $452 micro) within one year of abandonment, $3,000 ( $1,200 / $600) after that (37 CFR 1.17(m)).

What you can still do before and after paying

"Patents issue shortly after the payment of the issue fee," so the USPTO advises filing continuing applications, late IDSs and petitions as early as possible, preferably before paying ( MPEP 1306.03).

Prior art that turns up late

The duty of disclosure under 37 CFR 1.56 applies to every claim still pending, so it continues after allowance. An IDS filed after allowance but before the issue fee is considered only with a statement under 37 CFR 1.97(e): either every item was first cited by a foreign office in a counterpart application no more than 3 months earlier, or no item was cited by a foreign office and, after reasonable inquiry, no one with a duty of disclosure knew of any item more than 3 months earlier. If you cannot make the statement, file an RCE with the IDS. After the issue fee is paid, the USPTO's Quick Path IDS (QPIDS) program, now permanent, lets the examiner consider the IDS without reopening prosecution when nothing in it affects patentability. Our guide to the information disclosure statement has the full rules.

Withdrawal from issue

Before the issue fee is paid, you can ask the USPTO to withdraw an application from issue by petition with good and sufficient reasons and the 37 CFR 1.17(h) fee of $150 ( $60 small, $30 micro). After payment the reasons narrow to three: a claim is unpatentable (with an amendment and explanation), consideration of an RCE, or express abandonment, which may be in favour of a continuing application ( 37 CFR 1.313(c)). The petition must be granted before the issue date, and one granted within about 3 weeks of that date may not stop the patent being published ( MPEP 1308).

Continuations

A continuation or divisional claims the parent's filing date only if it is filed before the parent is patented or abandoned ( 35 U.S.C. 120 ). Allowance is the natural moment to decide: you know which claims the examiner accepts, and a continuation can pursue broader or different claims while the allowed ones issue.

After you pay: issue notification, grant and term

• Issue Notification: gives the patent number and issue date. It is usually in Patent Center on the Wednesday or Thursday before the patent issues ( MPEP 1309 ).
• Grant: US patents issue on Tuesdays (MPEP 1306.03). Later papers should quote the patent number.
• Patent term adjustment: the patent states any adjustment for USPTO delay. To contest it, file a request within 2 months of grant with the $226 fee in 37 CFR 1.18(e) ( 37 CFR 1.705).
• Maintenance fees: a utility patent then needs three maintenance fees, at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years after grant. See USPTO maintenance fees . Design patents pay none and last 15 years from grant ( 35 U.S.C. 173 ).

More USPTO guides

• How to file a provisional patent application (US)

  What a US provisional must contain, the USPTO fees, the 12-month deadline under 35 U.S.C. 119(e), and when to skip it.

• USPTO patent fees (2026)

  Every USPTO patent fee for large, small and micro entities, from filing to maintenance, with a fee calculator.

• Patent drawing requirements: USPTO, EPO and India

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• How to write patent claims: USPTO, EPO and India

  Claim structure and worked examples, then the claim rules and fees at the USPTO, the EPO and the Indian Patent Office, side by side.

• How to respond to a USPTO office action

  Reply deadlines and extension fees, 101, 102, 103 and 112 rejections, interviews, and options after a final rejection.

• Types of patent searches, and which one you need

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• Patentability search: how to check novelty before you file

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• Freedom-to-operate search in the US and Europe

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• The Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC), explained

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• Patent search Boolean operators and search strings

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• How to respond to a 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection

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• How to respond to a 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection

  Anticipation under MPEP 2131, AIA 102(a)(1) and (a)(2), the 102(b) exceptions, inherency and Rule 130 declarations.

• How to respond to a 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection

  Graham and the KSR rationales in MPEP 2143, teaching away, motivation to combine, secondary considerations with nexus, and Rule 132 evidence.

• How to respond to a 35 U.S.C. 112 rejection

  Written description and enablement after Amgen, 112(b) indefiniteness, 112(f) means-plus-function after Williamson, and 112(d) dependent claims.

• The PCT application: timeline, fees and national phase

  The international phase month by month, receiving Office and ISA fees in CHF, USD and EUR, national phase deadlines by office, and a deadline calculator.

• Entering the US national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371

  The 30-month deadline and revival, the 371 requirements, national stage fees by entity size, and 371 versus a bypass continuation.

• The US foreign filing license (35 U.S.C. 184)

  When a US-made invention needs a license to be filed abroad, the six-month rule, expedited and retroactive licenses, and the Indian and European equivalents.

• Filing a US patent from Europe or India

  The 2026 US practitioner rule for foreign applicants, Paris priority and certified copies, small entity status, PCT or direct, fees and translations.

• What is a utility patent?

  What a US utility patent covers under 35 U.S.C. 101, the parts of the application in 37 CFR 1.77 order, the 20-year term and USPTO costs.

• Design patents in the United States

  What a design patent protects, drawings and the single claim, the 15-year term, Hague filings, LKQ v. GM, and design vs utility patents.

• How to file a nonprovisional patent application

  Required parts and fees, claiming a provisional within 12 months, DOCX filing in Patent Center, and what happens after you file.

• Provisional vs nonprovisional patent application

  The two US filings side by side, the cost of each route, the effect on term and publication, and a guide to which to file.

• Continuation, CIP and divisional applications

  Copendency, patent term, double patenting and terminal disclaimers, the 2025 continuing application fee, and continuation strategy.

• How much does a patent cost?

  USPTO fees by entity size from filing to the last maintenance fee, what drives professional fees, EPO fees, and an estimator.

• How to patent an idea in the US

  Nine steps from patentability and search to provisional filing, Patent Center, examination and maintenance, with the USPTO's free help programs.

• Small entity vs micro entity status

  Who qualifies under 37 CFR 1.27 and 1.29, the 2026 income limit, SB/15A and SB/15B, license traps, fixing errors, and an eligibility checker.

• How long does a patent last?

  US utility and design terms, patent term adjustment and extension, terminal disclaimers, maintenance fee deadlines, Europe and India, with an expiry estimator.

• Can AI write a patent application?

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• Restriction requirements and election of species

  How to answer a USPTO restriction or election of species requirement, from traverse and rejoinder to divisionals and unity in 371 cases.

• Options after a final rejection

  Amendment after final, advisory actions, the end of AFCP 2.0, RCE, pre-appeal and appeal, with fees, timing and USPTO outcome data.

• Request for continued examination (RCE)

  What 37 CFR 1.114 requires, first and later RCE fees, patent term effects, and when an RCE beats an appeal.

• Information disclosure statements (IDS)

  The duty of disclosure, IDS timing windows and fees, the 2025 size fee, EPO search reports, Therasense and QPIDS.

• PTAB ex parte appeals

  Notice of appeal to decision step by step, with fees, deadlines and the PTAB's FY 2026 pendency and outcome statistics.

• Track One prioritized examination

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• 35 U.S.C., annotated: US patent law section by section

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• USPTO maintenance fees (2026)

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• PCT national phase deadlines by country

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• PCT search report, written opinion and Chapter II

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• USPTO extensions of time (37 CFR 1.136)

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All guides, by patent office