The present countries of the EPO can be seen by clicking here, and a map is available here.

When granted, a European patent affords the same rights in the designated contracting states as a national patent granted in any of these states.

Protection can also be obtained in several Extension States, which recognise European patents. Again, these can be seen by clicking here.

Contact Albright Patents now for advice from one of our experienced European patent attorneys.

• Filing fee - compulsory
• Search fee - compulsory, dependent on ISA
• Examination fee - compulsory, dependent on ISA
• Designation fee - compulsory
• Extension States fees - optional
• Excess claims fees - first tier fees for claims 16 to 50, second tier fees for claims 51 and above
• Excess page fee - for each page above 35
• Renewal / Annuity fee - due on the second anniversary from the PCT filing date

Please refer to the 'Costs' section above for more details of Albright Patents charges and the European Patent Office official fees.

We aim to provide clear and straightforward advice and guidance, and are happy to answer many queries free of charge.

Please contact us now, and one of our European patent attorneys would be pleased to provide all the information you require.

• Filing fee - compulsory
• Search fee - compulsory, dependent on ISA
• Excess claims fees - first tier fees for claims 16 to 50, second tier fees for claims 51 and above
• Excess page fee - for each page above 35

Following publication of the search report at around 18 months from filing or priority, the Examination, Designation, and Extension States fees will become due.

A first annual renewal / annuity fee becomes due on the second anniversary.

Please refer to the 'Costs' section above for more details of Albright Patents charges and the European Patent Office official fees.

Please contact us now for guidance and advice from one of our expert European patent attorneys.

When filing a European patent application typically either claiming priority from a domestic patent application, such as a UK or USA patent application, or when converting from an International PCT patent application, there are a number of ways to reduce costs.

The European Patent Office ( EPO ) charges significant extra fees for each claim of your patent application in excess of 15. Therefore, in effect, the first 15 claims in a European patent application are free of charge, but the following claims from 16 onwards do incur heavy fees. Therefore, it is in the applicant’s interest to consider slimming their claims down when filing their European patent application.
 

In particular, the official fee at present for each claim from 16 to 50 is 210 Euros, and for each claim from 51 onwards incurs an official fee of 525 Euros. In coming years, these fees are unlikely to reduce and if anything will probably only get higher.
 

It should be remembered that, for a European patent application, typically only one independent apparatus claim, one independent method claim, and one independent product claim will be allowable. Often, US patent applications in particular, will include multiple independent apparatus claims. Therefore, when filing or submitting a European patent application, it is generally prudent to consider reducing the number of independent claims in the respective categories. Again, this should help to reduce the official filing fees.
 

The European Patent Office also charges for each page of the specification in excess of the first 35 pages. The specification in this case includes the description, claims, abstract and drawings. Although it is often difficult to reduce the number of pages, if the margins can be reduced, the line spacing between lines of written text reduced to 1.5, and typically the font size reduced to Times New Roman 11 point, this is generally acceptable and may result in the number of pages being reduced somewhat.
 

Although the saving is not a great as with the reduction in the number claims, each page in excess of the first 35 pages of the specification is charged at 13 Euros. Again, although this fee remains static for the time being, it is unlikely that it will ever go down and it is more probable that it will only ever increase. Therefore, when drafting or preparing the original patent filing, this can be taken into account.
 

To somewhat reduce ongoing costs during prosecution of a European patent application, some formalities can be taken care of when filing the patent application. In particular, the European Patent Office will require that each feature or element mentioned in the claims and shown in the drawings includes its respective reference numeral enclosed by brackets. By taking account of this and modifying or submitting amended claims when filing, this particular formalities objection can be avoided.
 

Although of not particular benefit in terms of saving costs, it should also be noted that the abstract of a European patent application should include reference numbers identifying the features of the drawings. And these reference numbers should also be in brackets.
 

Furthermore, European patent practice provides for the use of multiple dependent claims, therefore if filing from an originating US patent application, for example, there is no reason not to modify the claims so that the dependent claims utilize multiple dependencies if appropriate.

Direct (non-PCT) European Patent (» See below for Ex-PCT requirements)

For filing to take place, we require:

• Applicant details, including full name and address
• Inventor details if different from the applicant's, citizenship, and relationship to the applicant
• Electronic copy of the specification in English and including description, claims and drawings, preferably in Word (.doc / .docx) format
• Claims are allowable in muliple dependency format
• Claims should include references in brackets have each feature
• Certified copy of any priority document (can be filed within sixteen months of priority)
• Priority details, including earlier application number, country of filing, and filing date

No power of attorney or other documentation signed by the applicant is required, unless changing European representative.

European Regional Phase Patent (From PCT)

Please use our European Patent Cost Calculator (above) to guide you through the process for costing and ordering your regional phase (national stage) European patent application.

For filing to take place, we require:

• PCT publication number and/or PCT international filing number
• Indication of whether international preliminary examination (IPE) has taken place (Chapter II)
• Any claim amendments (optional)
• English language translation, if the specification is not already in English

NB: If the European Patent Office carried out the International Search of your PCT, then we are obliged to also submit a formal written response (with amendments if required) to the International Search at the time of filing. Please include these details when instructing.

No power of attorney or other documentation signed by the applicant is required, unless changing European representative.

To reduce the official fees of a European patent application, it is suggested to keep the number of claims down to fifteen or fewer. A first tier of extra official fees become due for claims from sixteen to fifty, and a second tier of higher official fees become due for claims from fifty one onwards.

Furthermore, extra official fees are due for each page over and above thirty five. Reducing the number of pages of the specification can also therefore save costs.

A European patent will typically only grant with one apparatus claim, one method claim, and one product-by-process claim. Other indpendent claims will therefore generally have to be made the subject of one or more divisional applications.

Once an application has been filed, the European Patent Office carry out a search of published patent specifications and some other materials, if deemed relevant, and issue a Search Report usually within 4 months of the application date.

A Written Opinion is typically also provided by the European Patent Office Examiner, and this can form the basis of a first examination report in due course.

Once received, we will forward the Search Report to you. If you would like more detailed analysis as to the relevancy, then we are happy to provide this on receipt of your instruction.

Please note : If the European Patent Office was the International Search Authority for your PCT patent application, then we are now required to deal with any objections raised in the International Written Opinion on entry into the European regional phase at 31 months. Please ask us for further information regarding this, if you feel it may be of relevance.

After 18 months from the date of filing, or from the priority date if priority is claimed, your application is published, together with a copy of the search report (if established). Once a European patent application has been published, files relating to it are available for public inspection and bibliographic data is available to the public in the European Patent Register.

If the European Patent application is direct filed (i.e. not from a PCT), then once the Search Report publishes, we have six months to request examination and to pay the examination fee and the designation fee, designating the countries covered by the European Patent Convention (EPC).

A first Examination report can take one or more years to issue. Once received, we are typically allowed four months to respond. We are happy to provide as much analysis and guidance as required, or to discuss matters with a meeting at our offices if necessary.

We enter into a written dialogue with the Patent Office and try to resolve any objections to the application made in the Examination Report. Failure to resolve objections may result in the application being refused.

Once the European Patent Office is satisfied that any objections raised have been overcome, we are informed that a European Patent will be granted. We are then required to file translations of the claims into French and German, and to pay the grant and printing fees within a short time limit. The application is granted and published once these requirements have been met, or refused if these requirements are not met.

Albright Patents will handle the translations for you. It is important that good quality and accurate translations into French and German are obtained.

Following grant, there is a short period to 'validate' your European patent in the desired European Patent member states, which includes the majority of the EU ( European Union ).

Validation brings the granted European patent into force in that member state.

A translation of the claims or a translation of the whole European patent into the national language of the member state may be required, as stipulated by the London Agreement. We have contacts with cost-effective associates in all of the EPO member states, allowing us to keep the translation costs (if required) down during the validation process following grant of your European patent.

For up to 9 months from the date of grant, the granted European patent may be opposed at the European Patent Office by any third party.

It is possible to defend against opposition, and we can advise you on a case by case basis.

Renewal fees are payable annually from the end of the second year after filing of your European patent application to keep the application pending.

If the European patent application has been filed via the PCT route, then the PCT application counts as the European filing. As such, if the PCT application is more than two years old at the time of European regional phase entry, the first renewal fee will be payable.

Once the European patent application is granted, renewal fees then become payable in each of the states where the patent has been validated.

Albright Patents can cost-effectively pay any renewal fee to the European Patent Office or in any European Patent member state. We can also undertake payment of renewal fees in most countries around the world. Please contact us for further details.