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07/02/2024: 2024 EPO Fee Increase - UPDATED

As of 1st of April 2024, the European Patent Office will be increasing its renewal fees. This change will affect the cost of renewals for European Patent (EP) applications, and it will also be reflected in the fees shown on your IPRIS dashboard starting from that date.

IPRIS can pay the EPO 2 months prior to the due date, for all deadlines up until the end of May, in order to avoid the fee increase. We have recently learnt that the EPO will not be accepting early payment for renewal deadlines falling in June and beyond. If you wish to instruct early to avoid the fee increase for those deadlines before June, we kindly ask you to log in to your IPRIS account and instruct ‘Renew’ before Monday the 25th of March.

If your cases are on Auto-Renew, please email us at [email protected] and cc [email protected] with a list of the cases you would like to renew before Monday the 25th of March. Please make sure to include the title, application number, and IPRIS Reference number.

If you need any guidance, feel free to visit our help pages.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Support ([email protected])

22/12/2023: CIPO Fee Increase (Canada)

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has announced that it is increasing most of it's fees, including renewal fees, from January 1st 2024.

There will be a 25% increase in the price of renewal fees in Canada in 2024. CIPO have also announced that there will be an 'annual fee adjustment' in order to keep fees in line with inflation and other factors. This is the first time CIPO have made substantial adjustments to their fees since 2004.

It is important to note that these fee increases do not apply to businesses which fall under 'small entity' status in Canada. CIPO are also adjusting the qualifying guidelines for 'small entity' status, which can now be applied to small businesses with 100 or fewer employees (previously 50 or fewer employees).

For more information on the adjustments made by CIPO, please visit their website.

07/06/2023: Start of the UPC system

The 1st of June 2023 marks the start of the new Unitary Patent (UP) system and the end of the Sunrise Period.

While applicants for and proprietors of European Patents can still make an application to opt-out from the jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court, there is no ban on third parties bringing a claim in the Unified Patent Court (UPC). Once a claim is brought in front of the UPC, the UPC jurisdiction is deemed to be the governing jurisdiction for that patent and an opt-out application in relation to that patent can no longer be made.

Nonetheless, this period marks the official start of Unitary Patents. The Unitary Patent is the new patent that can be obtained after the grant of a European Patent application. The UP gives protection in the following 17 territories: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Sweden.

The list of territories is expected to extend to a total of 25 countries in the future, thus also covering Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.