- You’d better enter EPO by PCT national phase within 31 months.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- English, French or German version of abstract, claims, specification, drawings (when explanatory text is included). You can just use one official language for unified application, examination and grant which can be valid in 39 countries
- Request for Examination has to be made at the time of filing the application.
- As long as your patent meets the requirement of novelty and inventiveness, it is more likely to get it granted. And it will take around 3 to 5 years after application. Moreover, you can request for PPH to accelerate the examination, by which it only takes around 1 to 2 years from filing to grant. In this way, you can avoid the expensive maintenance fees which otherwise should have been charged by EPO.
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Year Standard Entity Micro Entity Maintenance
Fees (EUR)3rd year 690 483 4th year 845 592 5th year 1,000 700 6th year 1,155 809 7th year 1,310 917 8th year 1,465 1,026 9th year 1,620 1,134 10th- 20th year 1,775 1,243 There are several points which deserves attention for the maintenance fees in EPO :
1)The maintenance fee is calculated from the PCT international filing date.
2)The applicant is required to pay the maintenance fee to the EPO from the third year onwards.
3)After the grant of a European patent, the maintenance fee is no longer paid to the EPO, but is paid separately to each national Patent Office that has been in force.