A grace period is a time past the deadline for an obligation during which a late fee that would have been imposed is waived. Grace periods, which can range from a number of minutes to a number of days or longer, depending on the context, can apply in various situations, including arrival at a job, paying a bill, for meeting a government or legal requirement, or in many other situations. In law, a grace period is a time period during which a particular rule exceptionally does not apply, or only partially applies. For the grace period in patent law, see novelty (patent).