§123 Micro Entity Defined

Summary

To get micro entity status for patent fees, an applicant must say they meet four rules. They must qualify as a small entity under Patent Office rules. They must not have been named as an inventor on more than 4 earlier patent filings, excluding foreign filings, U.S. provisional filings, and international filings when the U.S. national fee was not paid. Their gross income in the previous calendar year must not be more than 3 times that year’s median household income (as reported by the Census). They must not have assigned or promised to assign rights in the application to an entity whose prior-year gross income exceeded that same 3-times-median threshold. If a prior employer required assignment of all rights, that prior filing does not count. Foreign income is converted using the IRS average exchange rate for that year. An applicant whose main employer is a college or university, or who has assigned rights to one, can be a micro entity. The Patent Office director may add limits like income or filing caps but must notify the House and Senate Judiciary Committees at least 3 months before they start. If someone knowingly files a false micro entity certification, they can be fined by the director, at least 3 times the fee they avoided.