What is My USPTO Entity Status?
Your entity status with the USPTO is what determined how much you’ll pay in USPTO fees. For instance, big companies like Google pay more for their patents than just your average person creating an invention in their garage. The USPTO has three entity statuses: Large, Small, and Micro. Read below to determine which entity status applies to you.
Large Entity:
A large entity is the default. If you don’t qualify as a small or micro entity, you are considered a large entity. Most commonly, this includes:
Companies with 500 or more employees.
Any applicant who has licensed or assigned the invention to a large company.
Large entities pay standard USPTO fees, which are the highest of the three tiers.
Small Entity:
A small entity receives a 60% discount on most USPTO fees. You qualify as a small entity if:
You are an individual inventor OR you are a company with fewer than 500 employees.
You have not licensed or assigned your invention to a large entity.
Micro Entity:
A micro entity receives an 80% discount on most USPTO fees. Many individual inventors and brand new start-ups qualify for this entity status. There are two ways to qualify as a micro entity: gross income basis or or institution of higher education basis.
Gross Income Basis:
You quality as a micro entity under gross income basis if ALL of the following apply:
You are an individual inventor OR you are a company with fewer than 500 employees.
Your gross income is less than or equal to 3x the median household income in the United States. As of September 9, 2025, this amount is $251,190. Remember this is your gross income, so your income before taxes.
You have not been named as an inventor on more than 4 non-provisional United States patent applications. This means you may file 4 non-provisional United States patent applications as a micro entity, and for your fifth application you will be a small (or large) entity.
This number does not include provisional patent applications or foreign patent applications, so you can file as many of those as you like and still qualify as a micro entity with the USPTO.
You have not licensed or assigned your invention to a small or large entity.
Institution of Higher Education Basis:
You quality as a micro entity under institution of higher education basis if you receive most of your income from an institution of higher education. Basically, if you work for a university you qualify as a micro entity under this basis.
You still must not have licensed or assigned your invention to a small or large entity to qualify as a micro entity under this basis.