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FEE INCREASES FOR EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATIONS
The European Patent Office has announced fee increases which are to be implemented in two stages: from 1st April 2008 and from 1st April 2009.
The fee increases are applicable to all fees paid on or after the 1st April 2008, therefore it may be worth paying certain fees early to avoid the fee increase.
Whilst the majority of fees have increased by approximately 5%, the changes to renewal fees and excess claims fees are considerably higher.
Renewal Fees
Renewal fees payable to the EPO are being increased from 1st April 2008, with the exception of the 3rd year renewal fee which remains the same. See table below for more details.
Present Fee/€ |
New Fee/€ |
Increase/€ |
3 |
400 |
400 |
0 |
4 |
425 |
500 |
75 |
5 |
450 |
700 |
250 |
6 |
745 |
900 |
155 |
7 |
770 |
1000 |
230 |
8 |
800 |
1100 |
300 |
9 |
1010 |
1200 |
190 |
10th and Subsequent years |
1065 |
1350 |
285 |
It is possible to pay renewal fees up to a year in advance of the due date, so it may be worth considering paying fees before 1st April 2008 to save costs.
The surcharge for late payment of a renewal fee in the sixth month grace period is also being substantially increased from 10% up to 50% of the missed fee.
Excess Claims Fees
Up until 31st March 2008 excess claims fees of €45 are payable for every claim over and above 10.
As of 1st April 2008, excess claims fees of €200 will be payable for each claim over and above 15. Applications including up to 15 claims will not incur any excess claims fees.
In addition to this, from 1st April 2009, excess claims fees of €500 will be payable for each claim over and above 50.
These new excess claims fees will also apply to applications entering the European regional phase after the relevant dates. If an international application is currently pending with a large amount of claims it may well be worth considering entering the European phase early in order to reduce costs.
Designation Fees
For European patent applications filed before 1st April 2009 or for International patent applications entering the European regional phase before that date, individual designation fees are payable per contracting state, up to a maximum of seven whereby all states are deemed to be designated. Up until 31st March 2008 the individual designation fees are €80 and thereafter the fee increases to €85 per state.
For European patent applications filed on or after 1st April 2009 or for International patent applications entering the European regional phase on or after that date, contracting states will no longer be designated individually, but a flat-rate fee of €500 will be payable for designating all states.
If you are interested in filing a European application or entering the European regional phase of a pending international application and wish to designate fewer than seven European states, then it may be worth doing this and paying the relevant designation fees before 1st April 2009.
Please contact us for further advice relevant to your specific situation.
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