IMMINENT CHANGES IN THE FEE STRUCTURES OF BOTH THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE AND THE COMMUNITY TRADE MARK OFFICE

The main changes to the fee structure of the European Patent Office, which will come into effect from April 1 2009, are as follows:

• all European Patent Convention Contracting States will be designated by payment of a single reduced fee;
• fees for payment of each page of an application in excess of 35 pages will be payable at the filing stage rather than the grant stage; and
• the excess claim fee payable at the filing stage in respect of the 51st and subsequent claims is substantially increased.

Changes to the Community Trade Mark Office fee structure are expected to come into effect in May 2009 and will deliver a 40% reduction in the Official fees payable in respect of securing a Community Trade Mark Registration.

The main changes to the existing fee structure are as follows:

• the current registration fee will be abolished resulting in a saving of €850 in respect of the first three classes covered by a Community application and €150 for each additional class;
• the existing application fee will be increased from €750 to €900 for an electronically filed application and from €900 to €1050 for a non-electronically filed application while a flat fee of €870 will be payable in respect of all International registrations designating the European Union irrespective of the method of filing.

The reduced cost of protecting Intellectual Property brought about both by the changes to the fee structures of the European Patent Office and the Community Trade Mark Office will no doubt be welcomed warmly by companies feeling the effects of the current economic downtown.

SUPPLEMENTARY PROTECTION CERTIFICATES FOR MEDICINAL AND PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS IN IRELAND

Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1768/92 and Council Regulation (EC) 1610/96 came into effect in the European Union States on January 2 1993 and February 8 1997 respectively.

Under the Regulations, a Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) for a medicinal product or a plant protection product may be sought in any European Union (EU) state subject to a first authorisation to market the product having been obtained. Certificates are also available for the countries Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

Irish national rules under the Regulations have been implemented by way of Statutory Instrument No. 307 of 2008.

We would be pleased to supply specific information about applications for SPCs or SPC term extensions in other European Union States.

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