Russian patent application fees and annual fees increase

On September 27, 2024, the Russian government issued ruling No. 2378, which amended the regulations on patent, utility model, design and trademark fees. These amendments officially came into effect on October 5, 2024, including:

1. Cancellation of electronic application discount: The original 30% discount on all electronic application fees submitted online has been cancelled.
2. Increase in official fees: All official fees will increase by approximately 10-25%.
3. Annual fees for invention patents and utility models: The annual fees for maintaining patents and utility models will be replaced by a 5-year payment period, and the annual fees for the 1st to 5th years are included in the authorization fee.
4. For design patents filed after January 1, 2015, the 5-year annual fee payment method has been implemented. Previously, for design patents filed before January 1, 2015, the annual fees for the first five years were included in the authorization fee.

During the transition period, applicants will need to pay the fees for the five-year period, minus the fees already paid in previous years within that period. For example, applicants will pay the total amount for the second five-year period, minus the annual fees already paid for the sixth and seventh years, rather than just paying the annual fees for the eighth year. For trademarks, the six-month grace period for late payment (with a 50% fee increase) has been changed to a grace period of only one month, and late payment fees for application and registration fees will increase by 100%.