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20 July 2020PatentsRory O'Neill

UKIPO waives late charges until March 2021

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has unveiled a set of temporary fee reductions that will come into force at the end of this month until March 2021.

There will be no 25% surcharge for late payment of a patent application fee, while late fees for other patent and supplementary protection certificate (SPC) procedures have also been suspended.

These include charges for late payments of renewal fees, and late declarations of priority.

The IPO has set the fee for late renewal of a trademark at £1, as a fee is required under the Trade Marks Act.

The changes will formally come into effect on July 30, upon the ending of the IPO’s “ interrupted days” policy, which was implemented to effectively grant deadline extensions amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

“If it is possible to pay your renewal with a surcharge between 30 July 2020 and 31 March 2021, that surcharge fee will be £0 for patents and designs and £1 for trade marks. If you choose to pay your renewal fee before 30 July, 2020 then you may need to pay a surcharge,” the IPO said.

The IPO is not alone in waiving fees and granting extensions in an effort to help businesses cope with the effects of COVID-19, despite concerns for IP office funding.

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has told Congress that, as a fully fee-funded agency, it could require federal assistance in light of measures taken to ease pressure on businesses.

The USPTO last month  further extended deadlines for payment of fees but advised that these relief measures would end soon.

Andrei Iancu, USPTO director, said that he does “not anticipate any further broad-based extensions beyond what is outlined” in the June 2020 notice.

Iancu has also written to legislators advising them that the USPTO was relying on its reserves in the absence of normal fee collections.

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