By Charlotte Teall --
The European Patent Office ("EPO") recently announced that most of its fees will increase by between 5 and 10 per cent from 1 April 2012.
The changes in fees
A comparison of the old and new fees is given below (this shows the changes in the most common fees paid to the EPO; there are fee increases for other fees which are less commonly paid).
Practical implications
If you know that you want to enter the European regional phase of a PCT application, you should do so before 1 April 2012, to save around 5% on the official fees due.
For example, a typical PCT application might have 35 pages and 15 claims, with the USPTO as the International Searching Authority (ISA). If that PCT application enters the European regional phase on or after 1 April 2012, the total official fees will be €3215. If it enters the European regional phase before 1 April 2012, the total official fees will be €3020 (saving slightly more than 5% in the official fees).
Exactly the same principle applies to filing a new European patent application directly at the EPO. It particularly applies to new divisional applications, where the savings on accumulated renewal fees can be considerable.
Therefore, if possible, you should file new European patent applications (particularly divisionals), and enter the European regional phase of PCT applications, before 1 April 2012.
The EPO has elected not to introduce a new payment structure. The changes in fees will not change day-to-day practice, save for the need to pay higher official fees. Therefore, our previous practical advice, for example concerning minimising the number of claims, still applies.
The other major practice change the EPO has proposed from 1 April 2012 concerns the new grant procedure reported here.
This article was reprinted with permission from Forresters.
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