Patent fees increase/decrease in Europe
PATENTFEESINCREASE/DECREASEINEUROPE
A
DAMMIZERA*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,
L.L.P.
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKSAGENTS
TheimpactofafirstannouncementbytheEuropeanPatentOfficeresultingina
reductionoftranslationcostsforpatentshasbeensomewhatlessenedbyasecond
announcementofanincrease,enteringintoforceonApril1,2008,ofcertainfiling
feesforEuropeanpatentapplications.
Atthestartof2008,afirstannouncementgavetheimpressionthatthecostsfor
obtainingapatentinEuropewouldbedecreasing.Indeed,withFrance’sratification
oftheLondonAgreementinJanuary(seeannouncement),translationcostsfor
patentsincertainEuropeancountriesaretodecrease.Accordingtothisagreement,
onlytheclaimsandnotthedescriptionasawholehavetobetranslatedinEuropean
countrieshavingsignedtheagreement.
However,anysavingsundertheLondonAgreementriskbeingallocatedtonew
filingfeesassociatedwithEuropeanpatentapplications.Thesenewfeeincreases
arebeingimplementedintwophasesinApril2008and2009.Presently,itcosts
EUR45tofileanypatentclaimbeyondafirstsetof10claims.StartingonApril1,
2008,abasicEuropeanpatentapplicationcaninclude15claims,butanyadditional
claimwillcostEUR200.Moreover,startingonApril1,2009,additionalfeesof
EUR500perclaimwillberequiredwhenmorethat50claimsarefiled.
Consequently,itisrecommendedtoreviewanypatentapplicationtobefiledor
enteringregionalphaseinEuropeafterApril1st2008inordertoreduce,asmuch
aspossible,thenumberofclaimsintheapplication,thusenablingyoutobenefit
fromtheupcomingreductionsintranslationcosts.
CIPS,2008.
*WithLEGERROBICRICHARD,LLP.amultidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-
markAgents.PublishedintheWinter2008Newsletterofthefirm(Vol.12,No.1).Publication
068.089
2
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