Am I eligible for language-related fee reductions?
You need to be a small entity and meet certain geographic/language requirements.
To qualify for a 30% reduction in the filing and/or examination fee you need to:
- (a) be considered a “small entity” (see below);
- (b) be based in a contracting state with an official language other than English, French, or German or be a national of that state living abroad; and
- (c) submit your application documents or the request for examination in such a language.
This language-related fee reductions have been in place since 1 April 2014 and will continue to be available unchanged.
In more detail:
Small entity
The applicant must be a small entity, which means:
- (a) a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (see applicable EU definitions here);
- (b) a natural person; or
- (c) a non-profit organisation, university or public research organisation (see detailed definition in OJ EPO 2024, A8).
If there is more than one applicant, all applicants need to fulfil this requirement.
Geographic/language requirements
The language-related fee reductions are available only to:
- small entities having their residence or principal place of business within a contracting state which has a language other than English, French or German as an official language, and
- nationals of such a state who are resident abroad.
The request for examination or the application documents must be submitted in an official language of a contracting state other than English, French or German.
If there is more than one applicant, at least one applicant must meet the requirements.
How can I request language-related fee reductions?
The language-related fee reductions scheme in place as of 1 April 2024 is the same as the existing one.
The reductions can be claimed in the same way, i.e. using Form 1001 or Form 1200 or attaching Form 1011 to Form 1038. These forms will be updated on 1 April 2024 to allow for claiming them in combination with the new additional micro-entity fee reductions.
Note that status declarations made for language-related fee reductions before 1 April 2024 will automatically continue to be taken into account for language-related fee reductions as of 1 April 2024.
"How do I request these fee reductions?" provides more details on how both fee reductions can be requested.
For unitary patents, a translation compensation scheme may apply as well.