Forthcoming fee changes in Benelux, Eurasia and Romania

The Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP), the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) as well as the Romanian State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM) have recently announced amendments to the official fee schedules. The changes will come into force as of January 1, 2019.

From that date on, most of the BOIP fees will grow by 1.5%. Accordingly, the basic fees for trademark filing and renewal will cover one class only instead of three classes, and the fee for each additional class will be introduced. Concerning designs, the fee for publication per representation will be eliminated. The fee schedule for the recordals of changes and assignment will remain unchanged for trademarks, and the same rates will be applied to designs.

Furthermore, as of January 1, 2019, the EAPO will introduce discounts on the patent fees for legal entities registered in the territories of 8 contracting parties of the Eurasian Patent Convention. Thus, for the state scientific and educational organisations, the patent fees will be reduced by 70%, while all the other legal entities from the said states will enjoy a 10% discount. The reduced fee rates for natural persons, i.e. 90% and 50% discount for residents and non-residents of contracting states correspondingly will stay unchanged. The deduction will be applied to the fees for filing applications and appeals, substantive examination, grant of patents, introduction of amendments, restoration of terms and assignment of rights.

The OSIM will slightly increase the official fees for all IP types paid in the national currency (RON), while the equivalent fees in euro will remain unaffected.

The IP-Coster team is continuously monitoring changes in the fee schedules worldwide to timely update its quotation system and provide its clients with the most accurate data.