UK patent application fee changes
With effect from 4 October 2009, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) has made reductions in patent application fees for electronically filed cases. For electronically filed patent applications, the application fee is reduced from £30 to £20 if paid on filing. There is also a £10 reduction in the official fee for a request for search that is filed electronically and for an e-filed request for examination.
Additionally, it is worth noting that the UK IPO has been carrying out a consultation with a view to more radical changes to the fee system in the UK. The main changes being considered are:
- an increase in patent search and examination fees, but with larger discounts for e-filed search and examination requests
- increases to patent renewal fees, with the renewal fees for the final seven years of the patent term being most affected
- the introduction of a fee for each claim above the fifteenth
- the introduction of a fee for progressing litigation proceedings at the UK IPO where the proceedings are contested.
We will of course report on any changes that are decided in due course.
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