What does it cost?

The request for unitary effect is entirely free of charge, i.e. no filing, examination or registration fees are payable to the EPO for this.

The renewal fee for maintaining a Unitary Patent is set at a very attractive and business-friendly level. The total cost of renewal fees over the first ten years, which is the average lifetime of a European patent, is less than EUR 5 000.

A comparison of the fees and indirect costs shows that the overall cost of a Unitary Patent is significantly lower than the cost of validating and maintaining a conventional European patent in four countries.

The full cost-saving potential of a Unitary Patent becomes clear when the savings from its simplified administration are also factored into the equation:

• in the post-grant phase, when the European patent becomes a bundle of patents subject to national law in each of the states where it is to be validated, different renewal fees of different amounts must be paid in different currencies to different national patent offices, which also have different legal requirements, especially in terms of time limits
• for the Unitary Patent, there is just a single renewal fee payable centrally to the EPO in a single currency (euro) and via a standardised procedure with one deadline and no obligation to use a representative.

What is more, SMEs are eligible for compensation of EUR 500 for the costs of filing a translation of their initial patent application into one of the three official languages at the EPO.

Unitary Patent proprietors who file a statement to the effect that they are prepared to allow any person to use their invention (licence of right) will additionally benefit from a 15% reduction in renewal fees which fall due after receipt of their statement. 

For further details, please see the Unitary Patent Guide.