What are "patent maintenance fees"?

Patent maintenance fees refer to the annual fees that a patent owner must pay in order to keep their patent in force after it has been issued. Once a patent is granted, it does not remain valid indefinitely. To maintain the enforceability of the patent, the holder must pay these fees at specific intervals. The necessity of maintenance fees is to ensure that only those patent holders who are actively using their patents or intend to keep them enforceable continue to do so. This system helps streamline the patent registry by potentially eliminating patents that are no longer being utilized.

The other choices do not accurately describe maintenance fees: new patent applications are associated with filing fees rather than maintenance; one-time fees during the examination process pertain to initial costs of obtaining a patent rather than maintaining it; and while there may be renewal processes for certain types of intellectual property, patent maintenance fees are structured on an annual basis rather than a 5-year renewal cycle.