EPO Fees – changes applying from April 2020

The EPO has announced the revised EPO Fees that will apply from 1 April 2020 in its Official Journal.  The new amounts will apply to payments made on or after 1 April 2020.  Most changes, including renewals fees, are in line with inflation, being around a 4% increase.

In some cases, applicants may want to consider the timing for paying fees in relation to their applications to maximise any opportunities to pay lower official fees.  If you would like advice on this, please contact your usual HGF Attorney.  The EPO fee changes are summarised below for your information:

• Majority of EPO fees to increase by 4%
• One exception to this is the appeal fee for “typical” appellants, which will rise by 20% from €2,255 to €2,705.  Specific entities set out by the EPO (such as natural persons, small and medium-sized enterprises, non-profit organisations, universities and public research organisations etc) will only see a 4% rise (from €1800 to €1955).  The increase in appeal fee for typical appellants is likely to be related to the ongoing changes and improvements by the EPO Boards of Appeal.
• Fees for PCT applications, filed via the EPO on or after 1 April 2020 will remain largely unchanged.

Please see all fee changes here.