By Jason Derry --
The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation (EPO) recently decided to amend the rules relating to fees that may substantially increase filing costs for certain European patent applications. In December, the EPO announced that it will increase the fees for all claims in excess of 15, effective April 1, 2008. The new claim fees will be EUR 200 for each claim above 15.
The EPO also announced an additional increase that will become effective April 1, 2009. In the 2009 increase, each claim 16 to 50 will cost EUR 200, and each claim above 50 will cost EUR 500.
In view of these increasing costs, applicants having PCT applications with upcoming national phase deadlines falling after April 1, 2008, might consider filing EP applications prior to the deadline, or start analyzing their claim sets to determine if excess claim fees can be avoided or reduced.
Jason Derry, Ph.D., who graduated with honors from DePaul University College of Law, is a molecular biologist and founding author of Patent Docs.
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