Guide to Fee Reductions for Patent Applications in Europe

The European Patent Office (EPO) has a variety of fee reduction options for official fees during its review, which is great news for companies applying for European patents. Through these fee reduction measures, the cost of applying for European patents can be effectively reduced.

Any applicant filing a European patent application with the EPO can apply for fee reductions, regardless of nationality, but language-related fee reductions are only available to applicants who reside or have their principal place of business in an EPO contracting state.

• Micro entities can enjoy a 30% reduction:
  • Application Fee
  • Search Fee
  • Examination Fee
  • Designation Fee
  • Authorization Fee
  • Annual Fee
• To be eligible for the above fee waiver, applicants must meet the following criteria :
  • The applicant must be a microenterprise, a natural person, a non-profit organization, a university or a public research institute. The EPO defines a microenterprise as an enterprise with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover and/or total annual assets not exceeding EUR 2 million.
  • The applicant must not have reached the EPO's filing limit of five European patent applications in the five years preceding the date of application for the relevant patent.

Language-related fee reductions are mainly for applicants who reside or have their principal place of business in a contracting state of the European Patent Convention (EPC). Applicants who meet the requirements can enjoy a 30% reduction in the following fees:

• Application Fee
• Examination Fee
• Language-related fee reductions: This 30% reduction can be combined with the 30% reduction for micro-entities, resulting in a total reduction of 51% in filing and examination fees . The EPO defines micro-enterprises, small enterprises, and medium-sized enterprises as follows:
  • Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
  • Natural Person
  • Non-profit organization, university or public research institution
• In addition, applicants must meet one of the following conditions:
  • reside or have their principal place of business in an EPC Contracting State where the official language is not English, French or German.
  • Nationals of EPC Contracting States whose official language is not English, French or German and who reside abroad.
  • Finally, applicants must file a European patent application or a request for examination in their native language, which cannot be English, French or German.
    

How to make a fee waiver request

• A request for fee reduction may be made when filing a European patent application or when a PCT application enters the European phase.
• For applications that are already under review, you can request a fee waiver at any time, including when you first request a fee waiver. However, fees paid before a fee waiver is requested are not refundable, so it is recommended that you consider whether you can apply for a fee waiver from the beginning.

If an applicant no longer qualifies for a fee reduction, they must inform the EPO when they pay the next fee following their change of eligibility. Failure to do so carries severe penalties.

What happens if a waiver fee is paid in error?

• If a fee reduction is granted in error because you are not eligible, it will be considered an underpayment. If the full fee is not paid within the original deadline, the application will be considered withdrawn. The applicant may be able to remedy the situation through subsequent processing or a request for reinstatement, but these processes are often very expensive.
• If the applicant mistakenly pays the reduced fee because the application exceeds the application limit set by the EPO, the EPO will notify the applicant to pay the official fee within 2 months.