the United States Government

“ Any remaining balance of the issue fee shall be paid within three months from the sending of a notice thereof and, if not paid, the patent shall lapse at the termination of this three-month period. In calculating the amount of a remaining balance, charges for a page or less may be disregarded.
If any payment required by this section is not timely made, but is submitted with the fee for delayed payment and the delay in payment is shown to have been unavoidable, it may be accepted by the Director as though no abandonment or lapse had ever occurred. ”

“ Provided: the term of the patent for which late payment of such an issue fee is accepted shall expire earlier than the time specified in Section 154 of Title 35, United States Code by a period equal to the delay between the time the application became abandoned or the patent lapsed for failure to pay the issue fee and the time the late payment is accepted after enactment of this Act [Jan. 2, 1975] ”

“ Source (July 19, 1952, ch. 950, 66 Stat. 803; Pub. L. 89-83, Sec. 4, July 24, 1965, 79 Stat. 260; Pub. L. 93-601, Sec. 3, Jan. 2, 1975, 88 Stat. 1956; Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000 (a) (9) [title IV, Sec. 4732 (a) (10) (A) ] , Nov. ”