UKIPO patent fees increase kicks in
Increases in patent fees at the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) have come into force today, as the office seeks to maintain “high quality, efficient services” for its customers.
Patent applications will now cost £60 ($84), an increase from £20, while the search fee has increased from £130 to £150.
According to the IPO, the increase in fees will help maintain its services, ensure that the office maintains a competitive fee structure and improve cost recovery for the services it provides.
Robert Watson, partner at Mewburn Ellis, explained that this is the first change to fees since April 2010.
“The IPO is primarily making the change to balance its books, although some of the changes are intended to encourage good practice by applicants,” he said.
Watson added that most of the increases are modest and reflect the rising costs faced by the office.
The most significant change for many applicants will be the introduction of excess claim and excess page fees, he explained.
Excess claim fees (for each claim over 25) of £20 will be payable when requesting a search.
“We would expect this fee to result in reduced claim sets being filed at this stage to avoid these new fees, with attorneys employing other tactics to ensure the application provides a good basis for claiming priority. This will mean fewer claims for the office to search.”
Additionally, excess page fees (for each page over 35) of £10 will be payable when requesting examination.
Watson expects this to have less effect on changing applicant behaviour, “as the application tends to be as long as it needs to be”. This will result in higher fees, which will benefit the IPO.
“Despite the increases, the fees of the IPO are relatively low compared to many patent offices, so we don’t expect to see a significant reduction in filing, especially from applicants who are represented by patent attorneys,” he concluded.
Details on the fees are available here.
Since January, the US Patent and Trademark Office has increased some of its fees, including a $6,500 increase to $15,500 for requesting an inter partes review.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
Today’s top stories
Microsoft partners to keep patents in new IP initiative
Major League Baseball unit sued over trade secrets theft
