Level of Renewal fees not expected soon

One of the open question regarding the unitary patent is the level of the fees. Of immediate concern is the level of the renewal fee. After a unitary patent has been granted, one does not pay individual renewals for all participating states, but instead one central renewal fee, to be paid to EPO.

The level of the renewal fee will determine where the break-even point will be, cost-wise, between classic validation and a unitary patent.



The renewal fees for the unitary patent will be determined by the EPO itself. All participating member state have a say in what the renewal fees should be. Also the EU has given the EPO a long list of requirements that the renewal fees should satisfy.

Recenly, EPO President Benoît Battistelli made some comments regarding the renewal fees at the IP Summit in Paris, cited by Managing IP. It seems we cannot expect news about the renewal fees anytime soon. Acoording to Mr. Battistelli, "We are very relaxed about it. I don’t see the first patents being granted until the middle or end of 2015, so there is plenty of time. I don’t feel we need to set fees that soon either, given that timeframe."

Let's see if the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will set their fees before the EPO does. 

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