News

Patent Office fees to rise | 1 March 2010

Official fees relating to patents and trade marks, set by the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) are set to rise as from 6th April this year.

Some fees will be unchanged, but among the fees that will be increasing are the patent and trade mark renewal fees. For renewal of older patents, in particular, the increases are significant (up to £200 higher on the new scale of fees).

It is possible to pay patent renewal fees up to 3 months in advance of the date on which the fee is actually due. Accordingly, you may be able to make cost savings if we renew your patents before the new official fees come into force on 6th April.

It is therefore advisable to take action early if you have a UK patent or trade mark approaching its renewal date. There are also some cost-savings to be made by requesting search and/or examination of UK patent applications before 6th April, and so again we would recommend early consideration of any pending UK applications which have not yet been searched and/or examined.

A summary of the official fee changes can be inspected on the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) website.

If you have any questions please get in touch with your usual contact at Nash Matthews or send an e-mail to mail@nashmatthews.co.uk