Changes

The USPTO requires maintenance fees to be paid by the patent assignee. For each patent a firm owns, it must assert large, micro, or small entity status. According to the America Invents Act, both small and micro firms receive fee discounts on a majority of maintenance fees. The fee amount each firm pays is specified online by the USPTO on its comprehensive maintenance fee schedule. [http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/fees-and-payment/uspto-fee-schedule] By recording the status asserted for each issued patent, the McNair center is able to identify which firms identify as small and micro firms, establishing the research potential for the [[Little Guy Academic Paper]]. Once identified, these small and micro firms may be used to track the effects of patent litigation on patent ownership and a small or micro firm's livelihood.<section end='fee' /> The fee table was used to create the [[Fee Status Table| fee status table]], facilitating the identification and tracking process.<section end='fee' />