European Patent Office (EPO)
The European Patent Office (EPO) will increase most official fees by approximately 5% from 1st April 2026. Where possible, savings could be made if any official fees due are paid at the current rate before the price increase on 1st April 2026.
UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO)
The UKIPO will also be increasing their official fees for designs, patents and trade marks from 1st April 2026. In many cases, these fees will increase by approximately 25-35%. The UKIPO has stated that this large increase is due to the official fees at the UKIPO not having increased for many years and the need to now keep pace with inflation.
For example, each of the filing fee of a UK patent application and the request for a search fee of a patent application is set to increase by 33%. The request for examination of a patent application is set to increase by 30%.
The cost of applying to register a UK trade mark application will increase by 25% and the cost to renew a trade mark registration will increase by 22.5%.
The cost of applying for a UK registered design will increase by 20% and the cost to renew a registered design will increase by 21.4%.
Where possible, savings could be made if any official fees due are paid at the current rate before the price increase on 1st April 2026.
In order to avoid the increase in official fees, where it is possible to pay official fees before 1st April 2026, please provide us with your early instructions to allow us to do this.