What are maintenance fees for design patents?

Maintenance fees are applicable to utility patents but not to design patents. Design patents, once granted, do not require any maintenance fees to keep them in force. This is an important point of distinction in patent law, as maintenance fees serve as a mechanism to encourage patent holders to maintain their rights over time for utility patents, ensuring that the patents are still in use and that the marketplace is not cluttered with unused patents.

Since design patents do not have the same requirements, patent holders are relieved from the obligation to pay maintenance fees at intervals such as 3.5 or 7.5 years, or any other time periods. This makes the management of design patents less burdensome compared to utility patents, allowing inventors and designers to focus on their creations without worrying about recurrent fees to maintain patent protection.