EPO favours lower renewal fees


 Last Monday  the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament had an 'Exchange of views the President of the European Patent Office, Benoît Batistelli' (here is the agenda of the meeting).

I haven't seen meeting notes of that meeting, but according to Intellectual Property Watch
the EPO favors the so-called Top 4 proposal for the renewal fees. Currently discussions around the unitary patent renewal fees focus on two proposals made by the EPO: the "Top 4" and the "Top 5" proposal.

In the "Top 4" and "Top 5" proposal, the renewal fees are based on the current renewal fees that would be due for a validation in four, or five countries respectively. In the Top 5 proposal there is a reduction for some patent proprietors, in particular SMEs.

The Top 4 proposal has lower renewal fees and fewer rules; There is no need to keep track if an applicant is still small enough to fall under the SME definition. Apparently, it is also what the EPO favors.






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