# MPEP § 1126: Publication Fees > Federal · Agency guidance · In force URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1126 ## Section - **Citation:** MPEP § 1126 - **Heading:** Publication Fees - **Jurisdiction:** Federal - **Kind:** Agency guidance - **Status:** In force - **Text as of:** August 14, 2026 - **Source:** Compiled text - **Location:** USPTO MPEP / Chapter 1100 - Statutory Invention Registration (SIR) › Pre-Grant Publication (PGPub) and Preissuance Submissions / MPEP § 1126 ## Text 37 CFR 1.211  Publication of applications. ***** (e) The publication fee set forth in § 1.18(d) must be paid in each application published under this section before the patent will be granted. If an application is subject to publication under this section, the sum specified in the notice of allowance under § 1.311 will also include the publication fee which must be paid within three months from the date of mailing of the notice of allowance to avoid abandonment of the application. This three-month period is not extendable. If the application is not published under this section, the publication fee (if paid) will be refunded. The publication fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.18(d) must be paid in each application published (or scheduled to be published) under 35 U.S.C. 122(b) before a patent will be granted on the application. The publication fee will be required with the Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due, unless the publication fee was previously paid. If an application becomes abandoned without being allowed, no publication fee is required. The small entity discount is not available for the publication fee. The sum specified in the Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due will also include the publication fee which must be paid within three months from the date of mailing of the Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due to avoid abandonment of the application. This three-month period is not extendable. Applicant is required to pay the publication fee to avoid abandonment of the application even if the application has not yet been published at the time when the publication fee is due. The Office will continue with the pre-grant publication process until a patent actually issues. This is because there are many instances in which the Office mails a notice of allowance in an application but the application does not issue as a patent in regular course. Therefore, the Office will not discontinue the pre-grant publication process until a patent has actually issued ication fee is due. The Office will continue with the pre-grant publication process until a patent actually issues. This is because there are many instances in which the Office mails a notice of allowance in an application but the application does not issue as a patent in regular course. Therefore, the Office will not discontinue the pre-grant publication process until a patent has actually issued. Since the Office cannot discontinue the pre-grant publication process during the last two to four weeks of the publication process, this will result in a few applications being issued as patents and subsequently being published as patent application publications. The Office will refund the publication fee (if paid) if the application is not published as a patent application publication, but will not refund the publication fee if the application is published as a patent application publication, even if it is published after the patent issues. Effective January 1, 2014, the publication fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.18(d) is $0.00. Accordingly, applicant may file a request for a refund of the publication fee after 4 weeks from the issue date of the patent if the application did not publish. A request for refund filed before 4 weeks from the issue date is premature and will be disregarded. Requests for a refund of the publication fee should be directed to the Office at Mail Stop PGPUB. If applicant files a request for continued examination (RCE) under 37 CFR 1.114 after a Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due is mailed (but before the expiration of the three-month time period set forth in the Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due), the Office will suspend the due date for the publication fee until three months from the mail date of the new Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due for the application (if and when a new Notice is mailed). See Time Period for Paying Publication Fee if a Request for Continued Examination is Filed After a Notice of Allowance is Mailed, 1249 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 81 (Aug. 21, 2001) ance and Fee(s) Due), the Office will suspend the due date for the publication fee until three months from the mail date of the new Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due for the application (if and when a new Notice is mailed). See Time Period for Paying Publication Fee if a Request for Continued Examination is Filed After a Notice of Allowance is Mailed, 1249 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 81 (Aug. 21, 2001). For more information on RCE practice, see MPEP § 706.07(h) . [top] ## Nearby sections - [MPEP § 1101 Request for Statutory Invention Registration (SIR)](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1101.md) - [MPEP § 1111 SIR Publication and Effect](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1111.md) - [MPEP § 1120 Eighteen-Month Publication of Patent Applications](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1120.md) - [MPEP § 1121 Content of a Patent Application Publication](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1121.md) - [MPEP § 1122 Requests for Nonpublication](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1122.md) - [MPEP § 1123 Rescission of a Nonpublication Request](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1123.md) - [MPEP § 1124 Notice of Foreign Filing](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1124.md) - [MPEP § 1125 Express Abandonment to Avoid Publication](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1125.md) - [MPEP § 1126 Publication Fees](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1126.md) - [MPEP § 1127 Notice of Publication](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1127.md) - [MPEP § 1128 Availability of Published Applications](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1128.md) - [MPEP § 1129 Request for Early Publication](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1129.md) - [MPEP § 1130 Republication and Correction of Patent Application Publications](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1130.md) - [MPEP § 1131 [Reserved]](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1131.md) --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S1126. Check the current official text before relying on it. Not legal advice.