EPO renewal fees, year by year

When renewal fees fall due

Renewal fees are payable to the EPO in respect of the third year and each subsequent year, calculated from the date of filing (Art. 86(1) EPC). A renewal fee falls due on the last day of the month containing the anniversary of the date of filing (Rule 51(1) EPC). The fee for the third year is the first to fall due; no renewal fee is payable for the first or the second year.

Who the renewal fee is paid to

Until the European patent is granted, renewal fees are paid centrally to the EPO. After grant, the position depends on the chosen route. For a classic European patent, renewal fees are paid to the national office of each validated state, at that state's national rates. For a Unitary Patent, a single renewal fee is paid to the EPO for unitary effect across the participating member states. The amounts on this page are the EPO renewal fees that apply while the application is pending.

The EPO renewal fee schedule

The amounts below are the EPO renewal fees for the 3rd to the 20th year, as set in the current official fee schedule. They apply while the application is pending before the EPO; the fee increases with each year until it reaches its ceiling.

Paid in full from the third year to the twentieth, the EPO renewal fees alone total . Most applications are granted around four years after filing, usually between the third and fifth year, long before the later years are reached, after which national renewal fees (classic route) or a single unitary renewal fee replace them; the figure nonetheless shows how steeply the annual fees climb.

When do the EPO renewal fees stop?

Renewal fees are paid to the EPO only for as long as the application is pending. Once the patent is granted, these fees no longer apply: in their place come the annual fees of the Unitary Patent, or those of each contracting state in which the patent has been validated. The grant year is the pivot of any cost projection, which is why the cost calculator exposes it as the grant-year slider: moving that slider sets the year in which grant is assumed and shifts the projection from EPO renewal fees to national or unitary fees. On average, a European patent is granted around four years after the filing date, with most grants falling between the third and fifth year. The control below works the same way: set the grant year to see where the switch occurs.

The six-month additional period

A renewal fee not paid by its due date may still be paid validly within six months of that date, provided an additional fee is paid at the same time (Art. 86(2) EPC, Rule 51(2) EPC). The additional fee is 50 per cent of the renewal fee. The six-month period is a genuine safety valve, but it raises the cost of that year's fee by half and is not to be relied on as a matter of routine.

What happens if a renewal fee is missed

If neither the renewal fee nor the additional fee is paid within the six-month period, the European patent application is deemed withdrawn (Art. 86(1) EPC). The loss of rights can then be remedied only through the available legal remedies, principally re-establishment of rights under Art. 122 EPC, which requires all due care to be shown and is subject to strict time limits.

Frequently asked questions