News & Publications
News
23 February 2009
EPO to Introduce Flat Fee for Designating Countries
Originally, the EPO charged a designation fee for every country, forcing applicants to make decisions on coverage at a very early stage. Several years ago, they capped the designation fees so that upon payment of seven designation fees, all countries were deemed to be designated (the current cost for seven designation fees is €595).
Under the current system, applicants who only want to designate a small number of countries can make a relatively small saving by paying (say) three or four fees rather than seven, albeit with a sharp reduction in the territory covered.
For cases filed on or after April 1, 2009, the current designation fee system will be replaced with a single flat fee of €500 (US$700) which will serve to designate all countries up to grant.
For clients who are seeking to minimise all filing costs and who are prepared in advance to limit protection to a very small number of countries, filing before April 1, 2009 may be advisable. For everyone else, it makes sense to file at the normal time and pay a €500 flat fee to cover all countries.
