Temporary Fee Reductions at the UKIPO from 30 July 2020
The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) will be introducing a number of temporary fee changes in relation to patents, trade marks and registered designs. Several fees will be significantly reduced or waived with the intention of helping applicants and proprietors disrupted by COVID-19. However, the reductions will be available to anyone, without qualification.
The fee changes take effect from 30 July 2020 and will last until 31 March 2021. During this time:
- fees for extensions of time will be zero;
- there will be no surcharge for payment of a patent application fee after the date of filing;
- fees to apply for reinstatement and restoration will be zero;
- for patents and designs, there will be no surcharge for late payment of a renewal fee;
- for trade marks, the surcharge for late payment of a renewal fee will be £1;
- the supplementary protection certificate (SPC) late payment fee will be zero.
The UKIPO had previously declared that the period from 24 March 2020 to 29 July 2020 were ‘interrupted days’, meaning that most deadlines for patents, SPCs, trade marks and designs falling in this period were extended until 30 July 2020. The temporary fee changes therefore provide some welcome additional support for applicants and proprietors after this period of interrupted days has ended. If you have any questions about the temporary fee changes, or if you would like to discuss your intellectual property strategy in view of any disruption, please contact one of our attorneys or email mail@vennershipley.co.uk.
