If you do not reply to an official notice within the time limit to reply, your application will be dismissed from further processing. An application will also be dismissed if you do not pay the granting fee when your patent is granted.

Dismissal is a final decision, which means that we stop processing. On payment of a fee, a dismissed application can be reinstated within fours months of the last date of the notice. If you do not reinstate the application within that time, your application will be definitely terminated and cannot be reinstated.

If, after a technical notice, someone assesses the chance of a patent as small, they often let the matter rest. The case is then dismissed, but if you want to be sure that the application has been terminated before being made public, you should always withdraw the application in writing.

Please note that if you only respond to certain deficiencies in a notice, the application will not be dismissed but can instead be rejected.

Unpaid annual fee

An application and even a patent can also be dismissed if you do not pay the set annual fee. That happens if you have not paid the fee plus a 20% increase within six months of the annual fee's due date. After such a dismissal, there is no possibility of reinstatement.

More information

Rejection