Annual fees.
Section 22
SEC. 22. Annual fees.—The first annual fee on a patent shall be due and payable on the expiration of four years from the date of issue. In a similar manner, annual fees on subsisting patents shall be due and payable on the fifth and each annual anniversary of the date of issue. If any annul fee is not paid on prescribed time, a notice of the nonpayment shall be published in the Official Gazette and the patentee shall have six months from the date of publication to pay the fee together with the surcharge required for the delayed payment. A notice of the lapsing of a patent for nonpayment of any annual fee shall be published in the Official Gazette.