The battle to expose the hidden cost of patent renewals
For entrepreneurs that hold even a small number of global patents, annual renewal fees are an annoying fact of life.
Every patent holder must pay these fees to regional offices for their portfolio of patents and most delegate this responsibility to patent attorneys.
The annual fee that is paid to each patent office is usually fairly modest (£100 or so) but patent agents that generally take control of these payments vastly inflate their value without explaining to their clients what the fees are actually for.
London start-up RenewalsDesk you get the peace-of-mind that your patent renewals are being taken care of and that there are no hidden fees,” Katherine concluded.
While the renewalsdesk provides an excellent service, it is unreasonable for your publication to imply that all patent agents “vastly inflate inflate their value..”. A reliable patent agent can be of inestimable value to an entrepreneur in helping to navigate the process of securing appropriate patent protection for his innovation. There is no such thing as a global patent and choices must be made as to the appropriate territory of protection. Renewal fees in some territories are very much more than £100. For example, if you choose what seems the desirable European patent route even the lowest fee payable for the 3rd year is €465 and while an applicant can have a third party pay that, it’s tough love on your patent agent who has to nurse the file for years while the EPO does nothing.
Congratulations are in order to the UK IPO which provides an online service for paying renewal fees with no hidden fees or whatsoever.
If your patent agent won’t tell you the breakdown of costs then feel free to complain. This is a regulated profession
While the renewalsdesk provides an excellent service, it is unreasonable for your publication to imply that all patent agents “vastly inflate inflate their value..”. A reliable patent agent can be of inestimable value to an entrepreneur in helping to navigate the process of securing appropriate patent protection for his innovation. There is no such thing as a global patent and choices must be made as to the appropriate territory of protection. Renewal fees in some territories are very much more than £100. For example, if you choose what seems the desirable European patent route even the lowest fee payable for the 3rd year is €465 and while an applicant can have a third party pay that, it’s tough love on your patent agent who has to nurse the file for years while the EPO does nothing.
Congratulations are in order to the UK IPO which provides an online service for paying renewal fees with no hidden fees or whatsoever.
If your patent agent won’t tell you the breakdown of costs then feel free to complain. This is a regulated profession
The EPO fees are here http://www.epoline.org/portal/portal/default/epoline.Scheduleoffees/PublicScheduleOfFeesWindow?mode=view&action=e&windowstate=normal
and the UK IPO link for paying renewal fees direct is https://www.gov.uk/renew-patent
The EPO fees are here http://www.epoline.org/portal/portal/default/epoline.Scheduleoffees/PublicScheduleOfFeesWindow?mode=view&action=e&windowstate=normal
and the UK IPO link for paying renewal fees direct is https://www.gov.uk/renew-patent