UKIPO ending temporary fee changes on 31 March 2021
By Rachel Von Hossle onThe UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) temporarily reduced or removed certain official fees associated with patents, trade marks and registered designs because of the disruption caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. However, the temporary fee changes are set to end on 31 March 2021.
Due to disruption caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) announced temporary fee changes to some of their official fees to help applicants manage their IP rights during the pandemic. These temporary fee changes end on 31 March 2021. The official fees will revert to their previous amounts from 1 April 2021 onwards. A summary of the changes is provided below.
Patents
|
Between 30 July 2020 and 31 March 2021 |
1 April 2021 onwards |
Surcharge for payment of the application fee after the date of filing |
No official fee |
£15 |
Surcharge for late payment of a renewal fee |
No official fee (there is no change to the renewal fee itself) |
Up to £120 |
Request to extensions of a prescribed time period |
No official fee |
£135 |
Request to reinstate a patent application |
No official fee |
£150 |
Application to restore a patent |
No official fee |
£135 |
Trade marks
|
Between 30 July 2020 and 31 March 2021 |
1 April 2021 onwards |
Renewal late payment |
£1 (there is no change to the renewal fee itself) |
£50 |
Request to restore and renew a registration |
No official fee |
£100 |
Request to extend prescribed time period |
No official fee |
£100 |
UK registered designs
|
Between 30 July 2020 and 31 March 2021 |
1 April 2021 onwards |
Surcharge for late payment of a renewal fee |
No official fee (there is no change to the renewal fee itself) |
Increases monthly by £24 per month (not exceeding 6 months) |
Request to restore a registration |
No official fee |
£120 |
We understand that the UK IPO will try to support applicants who request discretionary extensions of time because they have been detrimentally affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. The UK IPO has committed to considering such requests as favourably as possible on a case-by-case basis.
If you would like to find out more about these temporary fee changes and how they might affect you, please get in touch with your usual Wynne-Jones contact.
For the full news story published by the UK IPO, please click here.
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