The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s final rule on petitions based on “unintentional delay” took effect on 13 August 2026 and applies to relevant petitions filed on or after that date. The key change is the point at which a petitioner must provide additional factual support: instead of generally requiring a supplemental explanation once the delay exceeds two years, the USPTO now applies that requirement after one year. The change reaches petitions to revive abandoned patent applications, accept delayed maintenance-fee payments, restore delayed priority or benefit claims, and address certain missed deadlines involving international design applications under the Hague system. The higher petition-fee threshold was also moved from delays of more than two years to delays of more than one year, while the fee amount itself was not changed.
For applicants and practitioners, the practical message is straightforward. The remedy remains available, but long-delayed matters will require a more complete record showing why the entire period of delay was unintentional. A bare declaration is no longer enough once the one-year threshold is crossed. Docketing histories, payment records, changes in responsible personnel, client instructions, notices and the timeline for discovering and correcting the lapse may therefore become more important. The longer a problem remains undiscovered, the more difficult—and potentially more expensive—it may be to assemble a persuasive evidentiary record.
