US Patent Alert: USPTO Limits Abandoned Patent Revival Practice and Adds New Abandonment Pitfalls

Tomorrow, June 24, 2026, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will publish a final rule concerning the revival of abandoned patent applications. (See Federal Register :: Public Inspection: Conditions for Additional Information and Fee in Petitions Filed in Patent Applications and Patents Based on Unintentional Delay). The final rule is effective August 13, 2026.

In particular, the USPTO today announced significant changes to the abandoned patent and patent application revival procedure. Generally, the USPTO previously allowed a two-year period during which to discover abandonment and, without delay, file a petition to accept late maintenance fees or file a petition to revive abandoned patent application without facing heightened scrutiny. Now, this period is limited to one-year and any such petition filed more than one year after abandonment requires additional evidentiary support to justify the entire delay and incur higher petition fees.

The USPTO also announced a pilot program that allows applicants to receive notices about three months before examination on the merits begins. This is intended to provide applicants an early opportunity to expressly abandon a patent application and potentially receive fee refunds.

The USPTO also announced a policy of issuing a Request for Information in certain unexamined national stage applications. The applicant will be given an opportunity to respond or face automatic abandonment.

Contact us at admin@usaipr.com for questions or assistance with the patent revival process, avoiding abandonment, or reviving abandoned patents or patent applications.