European Patent Costs calculated to year 20.
Filing, examination, grant, and annual renewal fees are calculated on the basis of the current official EPO fee schedule. Fee data is retrieved from EPO sources and updated daily.
What this calculator covers
Official EPO fee schedule data, retrieved and updated daily
Year-by-year cost breakdown from filing to year 20
Claims surcharge and page fee calculation
Unitary Patent vs. national validation comparison
Frequently asked questions — European patent costs
A typical European patent costs – in EPO procedural fees over 20 years, depending on claims, pages, and validated states. This excludes professional fees (–) and translation costs for national validation.
Filing costs include the application fee ( online), search fee (approx. ), and any surcharges for excess claims or pages. For a standard application of 15 claims and 35 pages, the total filing phase amounts to approximately .
The examination fee (approx. ) and designation fee () are payable upon request for examination, which must be filed within six months of the date on which the European Patent Bulletin mentions the publication of the European search report (Art. 94(2) EPC).
EPO annual fees begin at in year 3 and increase each year. By year 10 the annual fee reaches approximately . Fees continue to rise annually through year 20. These fees are payable to the EPO during prosecution only — they cease upon grant. Following grant, annual renewal fees become due directly to each national patent office in the validated states (or, for the Unitary Patent, to the EPO as a single annual fee covering all participating states).
Yes. The first 15 claims are included in the base fee. Each claim from claim 16 to claim 50 incurs a surcharge of . Each claim from claim 51 onwards incurs (Rule 45 EPC).
Applications exceeding 35 pages incur a page fee of per additional page at the filing stage (Rule 38 EPC). The calculator applies this surcharge automatically based on the page count selected.
The calculator reflects EPO procedural fees only. Not included: professional representative fees, translation costs for national validation, individual country validation fees, and any opposition or appeal fees.
Keeping claims below 15 and pages below 35 avoids the corresponding surcharges. The Unitary Patent route eliminates per-country validation fees for participating member states. Filing online reduces the application fee by comparison with paper filing.
The cost structure of a European patent
The total cost of a European patent varies with the application's complexity. For a typical application with 15 claims and 35 pages, EPO procedural fees over the 20-year lifetime amount to approximately – . This figure covers the filing fee, examination fee, grant fee, and annual renewal fees payable to the EPO.
How EPO fees are structured
EPO procedural fees fall into three phases: the filing phase (year 0), the examination phase (typically around year 2), and the maintenance phase (years 3–20). The largest share of lifetime costs is attributable to renewal fees, which begin at in year 3 and reach from year 10 onwards.
Claims surcharges and page fees
Additional fees are levied for applications exceeding 15 claims or 35 pages. Each claim beyond claim 15 attracts a surcharge of (or for claims 51 and above). Each page beyond page 35 adds at the filing stage. The calculator above applies these surcharges automatically.
Costs not covered by this calculator
The calculator reflects EPO procedural fees only. Additional costs include professional fees (typically –), translations required for national validation, and individual country validation fees. The Unitary Patent route eliminates per-country validation fees for participating member states.
Costs are calculated on the basis of the current EPO fee schedule.
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