Agreement reached on renewal fees for unitary patent

The level of the renewal fees for the unitary patent has been set. Last week, the Select Committee of the Administrative Council of the EPO agreed that the renewal fee for a unitary patent (covering 25 EU member states) is on level with the sum of renewal fees in the four most frequently validated countries, namely Germany, UK, France and the Netherlands. This is good news to patent proprietors.

The new European patent system will enter into force after six more EU member states (including Germany and the United Kingdom) has ratified the proposal.