Overall costs of a Unitary Patent

A comparison of the overall costs of a Unitary Patent with those of a conventional European patent should consider not only the fees but also the costs associated with the validation and maintenance of a conventional European patent. These costs are considerable and typically include translation costs incurred for validations and the publication fees payable to the various national patent offices, as well as the fees charged by attorneys or other service providers for validation and the payment of national renewal fees. 

Based on such a comparison of the overall costs, a Unitary Patent is less expensive than a European patent validated and maintained in four of the 17 Member States participating in the Unitary Patent system, four being the average number of those countries in which European patents are validated at present. Consequently, the more countries a conventional European patent would have been validated in, the more economically beneficial a Unitary Patent is. 

For example, the overall costs incurred for a European patent validated in DE, FR, IT and NL (the four countries of the 17 states covered by a Unitary Patent where patents are currently most often validated) and maintained until year 12 can amount to EUR 15 149 (estimate based on sample information collected from patent attorneys; with specialised service providers the transactional costs are likely to be somewhat lower). 

In comparison, the renewal fees for a Unitary Patent for the same period are slightly lower, and the transactional costs significantly lower, bringing the overall cost down to EUR 10 772, which amounts to a 29% saving on the cost of a conventional European patent. The same 29% savings are obtained for patents maintained until year 10 or year 15. 

Unitary Patent proprietors who file a statement to the effect that they are prepared to allow any person to use their invention (licence of right) will additionally benefit from a 15% reduction in renewal fees which fall due after receipt of their statement. 

Even if a Unitary Patent is combined with a European patent validated and maintained in one of the most frequently designated contracting states not participating in the Unitary Patent scheme, such as GB or CH, total costs are still 7-16% lower than for a European patent validated and maintained in DE, FR, IT and NL.