With Congress unable to reach an agreement on a funding bill for fiscal year 2026, the U.S. federal government officially shut down at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on October 1, 2025. As a result, many federal departments and agencies have suspended non-essential operations, and hundreds of thousands of employees have been furloughed.
As of October 1, 2025, the USPTO has announced that it will remain open and fully operational until further notice despite the federal government shutdown. The Office is able to do this because it does not rely on annual congressional appropriations in the same way many other agencies do. Instead, the USPTO is fee-funded, which provides it with some protection from the immediate effects of a lapse in government funding.
What are “operating reserves”?
When inventors, businesses, or attorneys pay filing, examination, and maintenance fees, those funds support the USPTO’s operations. Unlike most government agencies, which rely almost entirely on appropriated budgets, the USPTO collects and holds its own fees.
The USPTO’s operating reserve acts as a financial cushion, allowing the Office to remain open even during a lapse in government funding. These reserves are made up of unspent fee collections carried over from prior fiscal years. Because Congress had already authorized the use of these funds, the USPTO can draw from them without violating the Antideficiency Act. This structure sets the USPTO apart from agencies that rely solely on annual appropriations and lack authority to carry balances forward.
How long will the reserves last?
The duration depends on the level of fee collections in previous years and how quickly those funds are used up. However, we have seen this before: during the 2018–2019 government shutdown, the USPTO remained open for the full 35 days, but its reserves were projected to run out shortly afterward — patent operations by February 2019, and trademark operations by April 2019.
What does this mean for inventors and businesses right now?
For the time being, it’s business as usual at the USPTO. Examiners are working, filings are being accepted, and the Office’s online systems remain accessible. However, the situation is subject to change if the shutdown continues for an extended period and the reserves are depleted.
Practical takeaway
• Don’t delay filings. If you have upcoming deadlines for provisional or non-provisional applications, office action responses, or renewals, it is wise to stay on schedule.
• Monitor USPTO announcements. The Office will provide updates if reserves are close to depletion.
• Know that rights are protected. Even in a worst-case scenario, the USPTO would maintain bare-minimum operations to prevent inventors and businesses from losing rights due to missed deadlines.
For software and technology-related inventions, it is also important to stay updated on USPTO Issues New Guidance: What It Means for Software Patents.
When you are ready to move forward, a non-provisional patent application is required to begin the official examination process.
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