The European Patent Office designed a 30% fees discount for micro-enterprises, individuals, non-profit organizations, public research organizations, and universities. The initiative is aimed at providing easier access to the European patent system for small enterprises with limited patent experience, thereby supporting their growth and development.
This is a good opportunity to optimize the budget for filing a European patent application and the future protection of your developments and innovations.
IPSTYLE Partner, Head of Innovation Management Practice
To be eligible for a fee reduction for an application, an applicant must have filed fewer than five European patent applications or Euro-PCT applications in the five years before the relevant date.
In particular, this opportunity is available to micro-enterprises. A microenterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 full-time persons and an annual turnover or annual balance sheet total of up to EUR 2 million.
It should be noted that the European Patent Office includes 39 member countries now. That is, 27 EU member states, as well as Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
“This means that by filing one application with the European Patent Office, you can apply for patent protection not only in the entire EU, but also in 12 other countries that are members of the European Patent Organization. In general, this is one of the best way for patenting over a large territory at once,” explains Iryna Ortynska.