Electronic filing at the UK IPO now reduces costs
This article was included in our Winter 2009/10 edition of Inside IP magazine.
The UK Intellectual Property Office has recently introduced a set of reduced fees for those using their electronic filing services.
The reduced fees apply when patent applications, search requests, or examination requests are filed electronically. A saving of £10 is available for each of these acts, making a total saving of £30 on costs that would normally be £200 - a saving of 15%.
Venner Shipley has had systems in place for some time to take advantage of the secure e-filing services offered by the UK Intellectual Property Office. We also use secure electronic filing for European patent applications at the European
Patent Office, PCT patent applications at the EPO and at the International Bureau of WIPO, International (Hague Agreement) registered design applications and European Community trade mark applications at the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM). We can also file some documents at the UK Trade Marks Registry on-line. On-line filing allows us to provide a better, more streamlined service to our clients.
Our use of on-line filing also allows us to pass on the new reduced UK fees directly to our clients, in addition to the reduced European and PCT application filing fees.