UKIPO announce changes to fees

After a period of consultation, the UKIPO and UK government have announced some patent fee changes that are expected to come into effect on 6 April 2018.

Application fee

• Currently £30 for paper applications and £20 for an e-filing
• Rising to £90 for paper applications and £60 for an e-filing
• New surcharge of 25% if the application fee not paid on filing

Search fee

• For UK applications: rising to £150 for requests filed electronically and £180 for requests filed on paper
• For the UK national phase of international applications: rising to £120 (e-filing) and £150 (paper)

Examination fee

• Currently £80 (e-filing) and £100 (paper)
• Rising to £100 (e-filing) and £130 (paper)

Excess claim fees

• New charge of £20 per claim for claim 26 and above

Grant fee

• New grant fee if the number of excess claims increases over the threshold of 26 claims and above
• £20 per new claim

Page fee

• New page fee of £10 per page over 35

Renewal fees

• £10 increase to renewal fees for years 12 and onwards

Reason for the changes

The objective of the fee changes is summarised in the announcement as follows:

• Maintain an internationally-competitive fee structure, based on modern, high quality and efficient services for the customer
• Achieve a modest shift towards prompt cost recovery, whilst continuing to meet the bulk of the IPO costs of granting a patent from renewal fees rather than at the time the work is carried out
• Maintain a sustainable income stream on reasonable assumptions to finance the IPO’s future activities
• Encourage good filing practice by applicants

If you would like further detail on any of the above, or would like to discuss patent fees with one of our experienced attorneys, then please do not hesitate to be in touch.

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Category: News | Author: Stuart Greenwood | Published: October 2017 | Read more