A practice manual for managing renewal fees on European patent (EP) applications. Europe differs from most jurisdictions in that the payee changes during the life of a single right: before grant you pay the EPO, and after publication of the grant the obligation moves to each validated national office or to the Unitary Patent (UP). This manual focuses on the EPO pre-grant stage, and also covers the handover point and SPCs.
1. At a glance
- System type
- Annual renewal fees (EPO application stage)
- Anchor date
- Filing date International filing date for Euro-PCT
- Due date rule
- Last day of the month containing the filing anniversary Rule 51(1) month-end rule
- First fee
- From the 3rd year Payable while the application is still pending
- Grace period
- 6 months + 50% surcharge Grace expiry is also month-end
- Restoration
- Re-establishment only Further processing is not available
- Reduction
- 30% (from 2024-04-01) Application-stage renewal fees only
- Term
- Filing date + 20 years An SPC is a separate right adding up to 5 years
- Risk level
- Caution
2. Anchor date and due-date calculation
The anchor is the filing date, not the grant date. The renewal fee for year n falls due on the last day of the month containing the (n−1)th anniversary of the filing date (Rule 51(1)). Unlike most jurisdictions, the due date is the month end rather than the anniversary itself.
Worked example
For an application filed on 2020-06-15, the due dates fall as follows. The 3rd-year fee is due on the last day of June containing the second anniversary (2022-06-15), i.e. 2022-06-30.
| Year | Formula | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| Year 3 | Filing + 2 years → month end | 2022-06-30 |
| Year 4 | Filing + 3 years → month end | 2023-06-30 |
| Year 5 | Filing + 4 years → month end | 2024-06-30 |
| Year 6 | Filing + 5 years → month end | 2025-06-30 |
| … | Same each year | … |
| Year 20 | Filing + 19 years → month end | 2039-06-30 |
For the same case, the term expires on 2040-06-15 (filing date + 20 years). Due dates are pushed to month end, but the term itself runs on the anniversary — so the two dates differ.
3. When payments begin
- Renewal fees start with the 3rd year. There are no 1st- or 2nd-year fees.
- They are payable while the application is pending, irrespective of grant. A long examination does not stop the renewal clock.
- Fees are paid to the EPO up to and including the year in which the grant is published.
- From the following year, payment moves to each validated national office, or — if the Unitary Patent was elected — to the EPO as a single consolidated payment.
- The procedure is designed so that no EPO renewal fee remains unpaid at the point of grant (Rule 71a(4)).
4. Grace period and surcharge
A missed due date carries a 6-month grace period with a 50% surcharge (RFees Art. 2(1), item 5). The end of the grace period is likewise calculated on a month-end basis.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Grace period | 6 months from the due date (month end to month end) |
| Surcharge | 50% of the renewal fee |
| If unpaid | The application is deemed withdrawn as of expiry of the grace period |
5. Lapse and restoration
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Point of lapse | Application deemed withdrawn on expiry of the grace period |
| Further processing | Not available for renewal fees |
| Re-establishment | Art. 122 — due-care standard |
| Time limit to request | 2 months from removal of the cause, absolute limit 1 year |
6. Fee reduction
From 2024-04-01, a 30% reduction applies to application-stage renewal fees for microenterprises, natural persons, non-profit organisations, universities and public research organisations (Rule 7a).
- Requirement: where there are joint applicants, every one of them must qualify.
- Requirement: fewer than 5 EP filings in the preceding 5 years.
- Scope is limited to application-stage renewal fees. It does not apply to post-grant national renewal fees or to Unitary Patent renewal fees.
- A false declaration is treated as non-payment of the fee concerned. Where eligibility is unclear, do not budget on the assumption that the reduction applies.
7. Early and bulk payment
- Payment may be made from 3 months before the due date; the 3rd-year fee is the exception, payable from 6 months before.
- Anything paid earlier than that is treated as invalid and refunded. There is no multi-year bulk payment.
- Fees are adjusted every second year (April of even years) and the rate applicable on the date of payment governs. The next adjustment is expected on 2028-04-01.
8. Official fees
The table below shows EPO application-stage renewal fees (effective 2026-04-01, EUR). A payment made during the grace period carries an additional 50%; an eligible applicant receives a 30% reduction.
| Year | EUR | Year | EUR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 3 | 725 | Year 7 | 1,375 |
| Year 4 | 885 | Year 8 | 1,540 |
| Year 5 | 1,050 | Year 9 | 1,700 |
| Year 6 | 1,215 | Years 10-20 | 1,865 each |
Electing the Unitary Patent changes the fee structure entirely. UP renewal fees follow the so-called True Top 4 scale, starting at EUR 35 in year 2 and rising to EUR 315 in year 5, EUR 1,175 in year 10, EUR 2,830 in year 15 and EUR 4,855 in year 20, for a total of EUR 35,555 across years 2 to 20. There is no general reduction for a UP; declaring a Licence of Right reduces subsequent renewal fees by 15%.
9. Term extension — SPCs
Europe provides Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs, Reg. 469/2009) for medicinal products and plant protection products. Protection begins when the basic patent expires and runs for up to 5 years, with a further 6 months where the paediatric requirements are met.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Legal basis | Regulation (EC) No 469/2009 |
| Maximum duration | 5 years (+6 months where paediatric requirements are met) |
| Filed with | Each national patent office (not the EPO) |
| Filing deadline | 6 months from the later of the marketing authorisation date or the patent grant date (to be confirmed) |
| Maintenance | Separate national SPC annual fees paid to each office |
| Effect on renewals | Does not extend the patent renewal schedule; it creates a new schedule for a separate right |
A Unitary SPC is under discussion. If and when it is adopted, the management model will change, so continue to manage on the national model for now while tracking the legislative position.
10. Management checklist
Fields to populate first
- Filing date. Every European deadline is calculated from it, so an empty field invalidates the entire schedule.
- Whether the case entered via the PCT, and the international filing date. For Euro-PCT the anchor is the international filing date and the 3rd-year fee may be deferred.
- Date of publication of the grant. This is the reference point for the handover from the EPO to national offices or the UP.
- Whether the Unitary Patent was elected, and the list of validated states. This determines how many schedules exist after handover.
- Reduction eligibility. Since it applies only to application-stage fees, do not carry the reduction into post-handover budgets.
- For pharmaceutical and biotech cases, whether SPCs are being sought and in which countries.
Payment cycle
- The payment window opens 3 months before the due date (6 months for the 3rd-year fee). Earlier payments are refunded.
- Confirm with the client that the case is to be maintained, and confirm at the same time that reduction eligibility is unchanged.
- Recalculate the amount at the rate applicable on the date of payment. Estimates made before an even-year April adjustment will no longer hold.
- For cases that have entered the grace period, re-invoice including the 50% surcharge.
- Once the grant is published, pay the EPO through that year's fee and then switch the case to the national or UP schedule from the following year.
Easily confused points
- Due dates fall at month end, but the term expires on the anniversary. Do not manage the two as a single date.
- Failure to pay a Unitary Patent renewal fee causes the right to lapse in all participating states at once. Partial abandonment of selected states is not possible.
- A hybrid of a UP plus parallel validations is in fact the normal configuration, so one case can run two different payment schedules at the same time.
- The 30% reduction is confined to the application stage. It does not carry over to national or UP renewal fees after handover.
Sources, cut-off date and disclaimer
This manual is based on iphere's August 2026 survey of country-by-country overseas maintenance rules, together with values produced by the deadline engine that runs on those same rules. Official fees and deadline rules change by office notice, so please confirm against the official source and your local agent before any actual payment or filing.