My question concerns maintenance fees. Is there a way to pay the maintenance fee for a patent beyond the 6-month grace period?
Yes, you can pay maintenance fees beyond the 6 month grace period. You have to file a Petition which you can do online. Procedures for filing a petition for reinstating an expired patent are set forth in MPEP, section 2590. There are two different petitions that are available to you. The first one is a petition under the unavoidable standard under 37 CFR 1.378(b), and the second is a petition under the unintentional standard under 37 CFR 1.378(c) and 35 U.S.C. 41(c)(1).
