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New fees from 1 April 2008
The EPO has recently conducted a periodic
review of official fees, as a result of which fees in general are rising by
about 5% from 1 April 2008. In addition there are some significant increases
and important changes to the fee structure for excess claims, and increases in
many renewal fees at rates above 5%. Further structural changes to excess claim
and designation fees will apply from 1 April 2009.
Excess claim Fees
Currently, excess claims fees of EUR45 apply for the 11th
and each subsequent claim of a European patent application. For claims fees paid on or after 1 April 2008, excess
claim fees will apply only to claims after the 15th. However, the
amount of the excess claim fee will rise significantly to EUR200 per claim.
This will result in a significant increase in cost for applications with a
large number of claims.
Renewal Fees
Renewal fees are due for European patent applications in
respect of the third and each subsequent year.
The fees increase with the age of the application. Renewal fees for the later years will
increase by up to 20% and by 55% in the fifth year.
The additional fee for late payment of a renewal fee in the
6 months following the due date will increase from 10% of the late renewal fee
to 50% of the late renewal fee.
Please note that the above increases apply to all fees paid
after 1 April. The increases can be avoided by paying fees early. Renewal fees
can be paid up to one year in advance.
New fees from 1 April 2009
Further structural fee changes will apply to excess claim
and designation fees on European patent applications filed on or after 1 April 2009 and
International applications entering the regional phase on or after this date.
Excess claim fees
In addition to the excess claim fee of EUR200 for the 16th
and each subsequent claim, for each claim after the 50th, the excess
claim fee will be EUR500 rather than EUR200.
Designation fees
The
structure of designation fees will change from the present arrangement where up
to 7 designation fees can be paid at EUR80 each, with payment of 7 fees
automatically designating all possible states. Instead, a single designation
fee of EUR500 will be payable and all applications will therefore designate all
possible states.
Excess page fees
There will also be an additional fee for a European patent
application comprising more than 35 pages (not applicable to pages of a
sequence listing) which will be payable
when an application is filed. The
fee will be EUR12 for the 36th and each subsequent page. An equivalent fee is currently payable when
an application is accepted for grant, and this will no longer apply.
If you have any questions about these new fees, please
contact your usual Reddie & Grose contact or e-mail
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Reddie & Grose
– 17 January 2008
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