Its patently cheaper
Its patently cheaper
INVENTIVE farmers – and there are many – will be pleased to know that the Patent Office is due to abolish the application fee for patents from Oct 1, a saving of £25.
More significant perhaps, is a cut in the cost of the trade mark application fee from £225 to £200, a cut in trade mark registration renewal from £250 to £200 and cuts in patent renewal fees by an average of 18%.
These latter cost reductions will benefit companies and individuals when a product is still in its development phase – a time when there has been little if any return on the capital invested.
Details of the fee reductions are available from the Patent Office Web site at www.patent.gov.uk/snews/notices/redfee.html. Further information can be obtained from the Stationery Office Bookshops and from the Patent Office, Cardiff Rd, Newport, South Wales NP9 1RH.
Titles include The Trade marks (Fees) Rules 1998 (£1.10), The Registered Designs (Fees) Rules 1998 (£1.10), and The Patents (Fees) Rules 1998 (£1.95). *