20/11/2017
Changes to patents fees (UK)
Some existing patents fees will be increased and new fees will be introduced for lengthy patent applications from 6 April 2018, when changes that reflect responses generated by the Intellectual Property Office consultation published in April 2017 ** will be brought into force *.
Details of the original proposals, the views of the 23 respondents to the consultation and the IPO’s final decision are all set out in ‘Proposed changes to statutory patent fees: Government response’
The following proposed increases to the basic application fee – which were generally supported by respondents – will be implemented
- the fee for paper applications will be increased from £30 to £90 when it is paid at the time the application is file
- the fee for e-filed patent applications will be increased from £20 to £60 when paid at the time the application is filed
- a 25% surcharge will be added to application fees that are not paid at the time of filing
Proposed increases to the basic fees for search and substantive examination were also generally supported by respondents and will be implemented –
- fees for requesting searches for requests filed electronically and on paper will be respectively increased to £150 and £180
- fees for searches of an international application (UK) will be increased respectively to £120 when requested electronically and £150 when requested on paper
- fees for requesting substantive examinations will be increased to £100 for those filed electronically and £130 for requests filed on paper
In light of lack of support from the vast majority of respondents for the original proposal to introduce a £30 fee for each of the 16th and subsequent claims contained in a patent application, the IPO will introduce a smaller fee of £20 applying only to each of the 26th and subsequent claims.
The majority of respondents also objected to the IPO’s proposal to introduce a £10 fee for each additional page of description over the initial 35 pages. IPO will address these objections by making the fee payable as part of the fee for substantive examination rather than as part of the application fee, thus ensuring those applications which do not proceed to substantive examination are not charged.
To account for the reduction in the excess claims fee, and the halving of the number of applications paying the excess page fee, the government will introduce a £10 increase to the patent renewal fee for years 12 onwards, thus limiting the increase to UK and EP (UK) patents that are considered economically successful enough to continue to renew.
* ‘The Patents and Patents (Fees) (Amendment) Rules 2017’ will make the necessary amendments to The Patents Rules 2007/3291 and the Patents (Fees) Rules 2007/3292.
** ‘Proposed Changes to Patent Application Fees (UK)’ CPA News, 20 April 2017.
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