London & Leeds
Patent renewal service
In addition to helping you obtain patent protection, Page White and Farrer can also assist you by monitoring renewal fee deadlines and attending to payment of these fees, in order to ensure that your patents and patent applications are maintained.
Renewal fees (sometimes also called annuity or maintenances fees) are fees that are payable to patent offices in order to maintain your patent. Some territories, such as Canada, Australia, Germany and at the European Patent Office, also require that you pay these fees in order to maintain pending patent applications. If renewal fees are not paid the patent application or granted patent will lapse and protection will be lost.
How often should a patent be renewed?
How often and when renewal fees are due depends on the territory. In many territories the renewal fees on granted patents are due yearly on the day the patent was originally filed or at the end of the month in which the patent was originally filed. However, some territories have different requirements. For example, in the US renewal fees are due at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years from the date of grant of the patent. The renewal fee usually increases each year.
It is important to have a reliable system to record and monitor your renewal fee deadlines to ensure that these are not missed. Large patent portfolios can have particularly complex payment schedules, requiring effective management.
Helping you keep track of your renewal fee deadlines
Page White and Farrer has its own renewals department in-house, and we can provide a renewal fee service that is tailored to your needs. We monitor renewal fee deadlines and can provide you with reminders regarding approaching deadlines that are due, ensuring that these are not missed. Our renewals department pays renewal fees directly to Intellectual Property Offices or instructs local attorneys to pay those fees. We can provide estimates of the likely costs in advance and we do not receive commissions from any external renewal service.
Alternatively, we can arrange for your patents/patent applications to be renewed automatically without your prior authorisation on each individual case, saving you time and administration.
Be aware of renewal fee scams
In the past, scammers have targeted IP rights holders with misleading or fraudulent invoices for the payment of renewal fees. If you are using our renewals service, always contact us if you receive any such invoices.
