Lower EPO fees for small entities

EPOs are the fees collected by the European Patent Office for the processing and maintenance of patent applications and patents. These include fees for filing, examination, updating and publication of a patent application. As from April 1, 2024 the EPO introduced support focused on micro-enterprises, natural persons, non-profit organisations, universities and public research organisations. These small entities will benefit from a 30 % reduction in all main fees in the patent grant procedure, provided they have filed fewer than five applications in the last five years.

The above fee reductions complement the existing support measures for small and medium-sized entities, which include:

• a reduction of the filing and examination fees when the European patent application or the request for examination is in an official language of a contracting state but other than English, French or German;
• a compensation lump sum for Unitary Patent-related translation costs;
• a reduced appeal fee.