By Christopher P. Singer —

After much speculation and rumor regarding the practitioner maintenance fee (see "Annual Fee for Registered Practitioners May Be Delayed"), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office posted an announcement clarifying that, "[t]he Final Rules adopted in November 2008 do not specify the date by which the annual fee, if collected, must be paid."  As the rule does require publication of adequate notice in advance of any due date for such fees, it seems unlikely that any fee would be payable by the previously speculated September 30, 2009 date.  However, while the Office mentions in the announcement that it "has not issued a notice to pay the annual practitioner maintenance fee for FY2009, nor has it required payment of the fee by September 30, 2009," it has not yet decided whether it will be collecting the fee for FY2009.