Patent Attorneys no longer have to instruct, manage, chase and liaise with individual agents around Europe. Applicants BE Belgium RO Romania IP Centrum has changed this, unrecognisably improving the entire process from start to finish, especially designed to support IP Formalities professionals. The renewal fee must be paid in advance before the end of the month of the filing date anniversary. CH/LI Switzerland/Liechtenstein You can download the flowchart by clicking on the image. Users can set up email alerts for communications arriving to the Mailbox in the MyEPO Portfolio service (see Notice from the European Patent Office dated 11 May 2022 concerning the web-based online service MyEPO Portfolio, OJ EPO 2022, A52). 46 Followers President and CEO, Quantify IP. NL Netherlands payable when the international search report or a supplementary international FR France The EP Validation Process Step by Step Patent have to be granted by the European Patent Office The Grant publication in EPO Bulletin Determination of validation countries Validation order from Patent Attorneys Validation Process at all that countries. Switzerland and Liechtenstein are, for the purposes of validation, usually considered to be one state due to the bilateral agreement meaning any patent granted in Switzerland is also considered to be valid in Liechtenstein. The way this simplification is applied is different depending on the official language(s) of the country in question. NO Norway [ 2 ] See the Notice of the EPO dated 24 January 2019 concerning the amendment of Article 2 of the Rules relating to Fees with effect from 1 April 2019 (OJ EPO 2019, A6). PCT filing or publication number. Many patent attorneys are uncomfortable providing their competitors with access to their client list. The official fees usually depend on the volume of the text of the European patent application. Schedule of Fees Items 1-40 of 115 Fee group: Description: Code: Valid at: . Applicants for and proprietors of European patents with effect in Croatia are therefore advised that as of 1 January 2023 the following rates apply: The designation of a validation state must be requested by the applicant, subject to the payment of a validation fee to the EPO at the latest 6 months after the publication of the search report by the EPO. For example if the number of pages of the Hungarian claims is 2, the English description is 10 pages long, and there are 3 pages of drawings, the official fee to be paid to the HIPO will be 95+10*14=235 EUR. GB United Kingdom In order for a granted European Patent Application to be eligible for validation in a Validation State, the application must have been filed on or after the date the agreement in that state came into force, and the Validation State must be designated. Thus, filing and prosecution costs will be the same as for current European patents. The regulations defining these requirements can be straightforward, or in some cases more complicated, sometimes depending on unusual factors such as changing regulations in respect of the original application date, the language of proceedings, or even whether certain parts of the patent have references to other sections. SE Sweden IP Centrum's advanced technology means this can now be achieved in a matter of seconds. WIPO in Official Notices (PCT Gazette) of 24 November 2022. Traditionally, the process was handled by engaging with associated, partnered or otherwise selected Foreign Agents, in the desired countries, and then dealt with each country's agent on an individual basis, organising Powers Of Attorneys, and allowing the expert with intricate knowledge of the individual country's regulations to handle any requirements. Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, IP Centrum's team are specialists in European Patent Validation, which means there is a significantly reduced risk of misunderstanding, unexpected costs, or of course the unthinkable risk of accidental loss of a patent due to the complex and constantly changing regulations around Europe. search report has been drawn up by the EPO. EE Estonia TR Turkey Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The filing fee has to be paid together with the search fee within 1 month of filing the European patent application. Therefore each of these countries is required to nominate one of the three EPO languages (currently all nominate English), into which the translation of the description is necessary in the event that the patent is published in one of the other two EPO languages. for a European patent have a simple and cost-effective way of obtaining patent For example, the period for payment of the To learn more about how this helps us and how they work, refer to the full cookie policy. Validation fee for the Republic of Moldova (MD) On the other hand, if the patent was granted with either a French or German description,an English or a Hungarian translation of the description can be filed as well, along with the required Hungarian claims. A European patent application is filed at the European Patent Office (EPO), and via this route, it is possible to obtain a granted patent which must be "validated" individually in desired European countries, resulting in a bundle of national patents in those countries validated. LT Lithuania The European Patent Office (EPO) will issue a non-payment notice advising of the 6-month period for late payment. It may be paid up to six months late with a surcharge. Some countries allow for general Powers of Attorneys, which permits the attorney to act on behalf of an applicant in respect of all of their patents. . From October 2010 to September 2022, there were 38 EPC member states, but from 1 October 2022, with the addition of Montenegro (ME), there are now 39: After the European patent has been granted, the patent owner can decide to nationally validate the granted patent in one or more or all of the designated states (by filing any necessary translations and paying any necessary fees). German part of the European Patent, French part of the European patent etc.) note that the extension system remains applicable to European and international effect for, Notice from the European Patent Office dated 5 February 2015 concerning the time limits for paying validation fees (OJ 2015, A19). PT Portugal List of professional representatives before the EPO: A17: PDF: View: Fees: . The fees guidance currently applicable is set out in OJ EPO 2022, A34. We have redesigned the EPO website to give it a new look and feel. If you fail to pay the renewal fees due, they can still be paid within six months of the date of receipt of the divisional application, provided that a surcharge of 50% of the renewal fees is paid., You must pay the examination fee, the designation fees and any extension and/or validation fees within six months of the date on which the European Patent Bulletin mentions publication of the European search report on the divisional application (see, It is advisable to pay fees as promptly as possible, preferably at the same time as filing your application., You should note that, if you fail to observe the above-mentioned time limits for payment of the filing fee, additional fee(s), the search fee, the designation fee or the examination fee, further processing is available within two months of notification of a communication of loss of rights under, If you fail to pay the extension or validation fee in due time, the request for extension or validation in respect of the state concerned is deemed to be withdrawn. These are termed Validation States. 011 Fee for appeal - for an appeal filed by an entity other than those referred to in Rule 6(4) and (5) EPC 2.785,00 + 011 Fee for appeal - for an appeal filed by a natural person or an entity referred to in Rule 6(4) and (5) EPC 2.015,00 + 013 Fee for re-establishment, reinstatement, restoration (EPC, PCT) 685,00 + 014 Conversion fee 80,00 + The first is a "formalities examination" of the actual application and a preliminary opinion on its validity. No official fee is charged for European Patent Validation in Germany. This information is simplified and should not be taken as a definitive statement of law or practice. The deadline for validation varies from country to country, but typically there is a three month deadline from the European Grant Date, within which the country's national phase validation requirements must be satisfied. The European patent is valid automatically on the territory of Belgium, . The Organisation, please refer to the relevant table. Further advice The validation request along with the required translation has to be submitted to the national offices within three months from the publication of the grant. - request, description, claims and abstract in character-coded format, Issue of a certified copy of a European patent application or an international application (priority document) If the PCT national phase was requested later, the renewal fee must arrive with the other official fee, no later than 31 months after the priority day. It is recommended good practice, however, to register a local Service Address in each territory of interest, which IP Centrum offers through our agent network. application number should be indicated when payments are being made; this extension/validation fee is the same as the period for payment of the We also use analytics. If that number is not yet known to the applicant at the time of payment, he may indicate the 1, States with the official language in common with one of the official languages of the EPO (English, German or French) will no longer require a translation of the patent specification in order to validate the granted patent in that country. To validate a European patent in Norway, you must file an application for validation, including a translation of the patent, to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO) within three months after the EPO has published notification that the patent has been granted. protection in such countries. Office, by the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland,by the Turkish Patent and The costs of European Patent Validation in Germany are made up of up to three components: Agent fees which are the professional fee for the handle the validation. Since As Hungary has a different official language than the EPO, it is always obligatory to translate the claims to Hungarian. We also use analytics. The second stage is a "substantive examination." EPO patent applications are published in English, French or German. GB United Kingdom publication of the international application at the latest and will be European patent applications will automatically be deemed to include a request for validation in Tunisia, the request being deemed withdrawn only if the applicant does not pay the requisite official fee to the EPO in time. MT Malta Fees to keep it in force in respect of years up to and including the. The Unitary Patent (UP) is a European patent with unitary effect. European Patent Office. The primary factor in determining the cost of the translation of the European patent is the number of source words in the document. Access full information on cookies that we use and how to manage them, See our learning resources about patent searching, Decisions and notices relating to PCT fees, Access full information on cookies that we use and how to manage them. We have redesigned the EPO website to give it a new look and feel. 9. A European patent is usually granted within 3-4 years from filing. If an applicant submits a request for extension/validation Validation fees A separate validation fee must be paid for each (available) validation state that is wanted. Obviously this is not the higher recommended option. Under Article 2(2) EPC, a European patent shall, in each of the contracting states for which it is granted, have the effect of and be subject to the same conditions as a national patent granted by that state, unless otherwise provided in the EPC. first sentence, RFees). Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Patents - European , The validation process typically involves high quality, technically-qualified translation of all or part of the patent, the payment of fees and the filing of documents within a certain timeframe - usually three months from the European Grant Date. international search report was drawn up by the Austrian Patent Office, by the Fee for a European search - Supplementary search for applications filed before 01.07.2005: 950,00 + 016: Claims fee in accordance with R. 71(4) - For the 51st and each subsequent claim: single right granted by EPO covering most of EU (currently 17 and up to 24 countries). To ensure that the new layout is displayed correctly by your browser(s), we recommend you clear your browser cache. For TR Turkey If you ask for our help in this stage, every necessary step will be handled by our highly experienced patent firm. At a late payment there is a 50% late fee. You must also pay a validation fee. by 75% if the EPO & The examination whether and to what extent a designation fee has been validly paid has been entrusted to the formalities officer by virtue of Rule11(3); see the decision of the President of the EPO dated 12December2013, OJEPO2014,A6; OJEPO2015,A104. complete list of extension agreements concluded by the European Patent This will instantly give you an estimate of the costs and any other official fees for your EPO regional phase entry. Renewal fee for the 10th year (constant from 10th year on) 1.690,00 + 093: Add. R. 40.2(a) PCT; R. 158(1) EPC, Fee for a supplementary international search We use cookies on our website to support technical features that enhance your user experience. PL Poland Schedule of Fees Items 41-80 of 115 Fee group: Description: Code: Valid at: Currency . 1July 2005 for which the international search report or a supplementary See the Notice of the EPO dated 24 January 2019 concerning the amendment of Article 2 of the Rules relating to Fees with effect from 1 April 2019 (OJ EPO 2019, A6). Please select your countries for validation: AL Albania FI Finland Beware of approaches and requests for payment from firms purporting to register European patents. IS Iceland Communication under Rule 71 (3) See information on how to make fee payments to the EPO by deposit account, bank transfer or credit card and how to claim a refund. The European Patent application needs to be validated in each designated country required 3 months from the date of grant. The competence of the EPO ends with the grant of the patent and the expiry of the . LV Latvia EPC MC Monaco list of validation agreements concluded by the European Patent Organisation, In some cases, countries have agreed an intention to join the EPC at a future point, but until then agree to conform to EPC regulations, as an Extension State. NO Norway The 39 contracting states are: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom. HR Croatia Instead they click one button, view their live progress through IP Centrum's state-of-the-art web-based monitoring system, and pay a single invoice - reducing the time spent from days or weeks, down to minutes. [ 1 ] EP fees last amended by decision of the Administrative Council CA/D 13/21 of 15.12.2021 (OJ EPO 2022, A2), entered into force on 01.04.2022 and PCT fees fixed by patent extension agreements with a number of Patent owners not only have to consider the validation costs and renewal fees of a Unitary Patent, which. The late fee is an additional 50% surcharge of the original fee payable. Terms and Conditions The publication number can be found on the front page of the International or PCT publication. However, these validation agreements are not limited to European countries. They may require that a translation of the claims into their national language is supplied. Most countries require that the validation filing agent has obtained proper Power Of Attorney from the applicant in respect of the necessary formalities for the given patent in the given country. . But the cumulative value HGF has delivered to its clients and partners over the years are a direct result of that early foresight. Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, by the Swedish Patent and Registration As Hungary is the member of the European Patent Agreement, the European Patent can enjoy protection in Hungary after the process of validation. Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, She believes Tata Steel's IP deserves perfection, which is why Anne puts in place solutions before normal people even recognise a potential problem. UP Unitary Patent [i] Once the patent is granted and the validation of the European patent is made, the maintenance of each patent shall be subject to the payment corresponding to the office of the country concerned. IS Iceland Enter a PCT publication number below, for an instant quote for EPO regional phase entry: This tool retrieves all the necessary data from the relevant patent databases and automatically calculates the costs for filing a European patent application based on an International or PCT application. Unitary patents will co-exist with national patents and existing European patents. . - web-form filing R. 17.1(b) PCT; R. 54 EPC, 50% of the unpaid fee(s) but not to exceed EUR 689.00, Fee for requesting restoration of right of priority IP Protection. Unitary Patents are obtained via validation of European patents granted by the EPO. It is good to know, that after the publication of the grant, a yearly maintenance fee has to be paid in those countries, where you wish to have a valid patent. Download PDF (multilingual) Validation fee for Cambodia (KH), Flat-rate fee for an additional copy of the documents cited in the supplementary European search report, Amounts and fee codes are the same as for European patent applications, Renewal fee for the 3rd year, calculated from the date of filing, Fee for requesting restoration of right of priority