Micro Entity Status in 2026: Requirements, Fees, and the 80% Discount

Micro entity status on the gross income basis comes from 35 U.S.C. 123 and 37 CFR 1.29(a). All four conditions must hold, and they must hold for every applicant and every named inventor, not just the lead one.

1. Everyone qualifies as a small entity under 37 CFR 1.27.
2. No applicant and no inventor has been named as an inventor on more than four previously filed nonprovisional applications.
3. No applicant and no inventor had a gross income in the preceding calendar year exceeding the maximum qualifying gross income.
4. No applicant and no inventor has assigned, or is obligated to assign, an ownership interest to an entity that exceeded that income limit.

The maximum qualifying gross income is $251,190, effective September 9, 2025. The statute sets it at three times the median household income for the preceding calendar year as most recently reported by the Bureau of the Census, so the number is revised periodically. Check it against the USPTO page before you certify, not against a number you remember. Gross income means the income of the person from all sources, not the income attributable to the invention.

This one catches people. The count is of nonprovisional applications on which a person was named as an inventor. Provisional applications do not count. Neither do international applications for which the basic national fee was not paid, nor applications the inventor was obligated to assign to a former employer as a result of that employment. A serial inventor who assigned everything to past employers can still qualify, while an independent inventor on a fifth self-filed case cannot.

37 CFR 1.29(d) gives a second, independent basis with no income test. An applicant qualifies if the majority of their income comes from an institution of higher education as defined in the Higher Education Act, or if they have assigned or are obligated to assign ownership to such an institution. That route is certified on form PTO/SB/15B; the gross income basis uses PTO/SB/15A. Either way, status carries an 80 percent reduction on most USPTO patent fees. On one fee, prioritized examination is $4,515 undiscounted and $903 at the micro rate, per the USPTO fee schedule effective January 19, 2025, last revised August 14, 2026. Attorney fees are separate and are published in the patent prosecution cost guide.

Check the four-application count and each founder's prior year income before you certify, and write down what you checked. If one co-inventor is over the income limit, the application does not qualify, even if everyone else is under. Status is not permanent either: a funding round, an acquisition, or a new obligation to assign can end it. When it ends, file the notification of loss of entitlement and move to the correct rate. A false certification can be treated as fraud on the Office and put enforceability at risk, so when the answer is close, pay the higher rate. What the discount buys in speed is in the Track One guide.

Most companies with a patent program are not micro entities, and often not small entities either, because the assignment obligation runs to the company. Where it matters is at the edges: a spinout before its first round, a joint filing with a university co-inventor, or a case where the inventor is an outside consultant with no assignment obligation to you. Those need a real check rather than an assumption. Build entity status into docketing so a change in ownership triggers a review of the rate.