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My query is
i. Approximate time taken by USPTO to issue patent after payment of issue fee.
ii. For payment of first maintenance fee, 3.5 years period is counted from date of grant or from priority date.
iii. If counted from priority date, then for application for which prosecution time taken is more than 3.5 years from date of priority (say 6 years), what is the time limit (normally allowed) for payment of first maintenance fee after grant.
Thanks in advance.
It takes about 6 weeks from payment of issue fee until the patent issues. IF you wait to the last minute to pat the issue fee, the patent will probably issue in fewer weeks.
In the U.S. there are no maintenance fees due until after the patent is granted. All of the maintenance fees are then keyed off the grant date. The priority date is irrelevant. They are due at the 3 1/2, 7 1/2 and 11 1/2 year points, from the grant date.
