1606.05(c) Processing §9 Renewal Application Filed with Insufficient Fees
A §9 renewal application that does not include sufficient fees to cover the filing fee for all the classes to which the application pertains (and the grace period surcharge, where applicable), is deficient. If the renewal application is filed within one year before the expiration date of the registration, the deficiency may be corrected before the expiration date of the registration for no fee, or after the expiration date of the registration with the deficiency surcharge required by §9(a) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. §1059(a). If the renewal application is filed during the grace period, the deficiency may be corrected before expiration of the grace period for no fee, or after expiration of the grace period with the deficiency surcharge required by §9(a) of the Act. See TMEP §§1606.13 et seq. for information about the procedures, deadlines, and surcharge for correcting deficiencies.
If the renewal application was filed without sufficient fee(s), but included an authorization to charge additional fees to a USPTO deposit account, the required fee (and grace period surcharge, where applicable) will be charged to the deposit account. If the deposit account authorization was included with the renewal application as filed, and the deposit account had sufficient funds to cover the fee(s) in question, there is no fee deficiency and no deficiency surcharge is required.
An authorization to charge fees to a deposit account with insufficient funds to cover the fee is regarded as a deficiency.
If a check submitted as payment of a filing fee for a renewal application is returned unpaid, or an EFT or credit card payment is refused or charged back by a financial institution, this is also regarded as a deficiency. In addition to the deficiency surcharge (where applicable), there is a fee for processing the payment that was refused. 37 C.F.R. §2.6(b)(12). See TMEP §405.06.
If at least one fee is submitted for a multiple-class registration, but the fee is insufficient to cover all the classes and the class(es) to which the fee(s) should be applied are not specified, the Post Registration staff will issue a notice requiring either (1) the submission of additional fee(s) or (2) an indication of the class(es) to which the original fee(s) should be applied. If the required fee(s) are not submitted and the class(es) to which the original fee(s) should be applied are not specified, the USPTO will presume that the fee(s) cover the classes in ascending order, beginning with the lowest numbered class and will delete any unpaid classes. 37 C.F.R. §2.183(e). See TMEP §1608 regarding surrender of the registration as to class(es) that are omitted from a §9 renewal application.