Iceland amends its fee schedule for patents, trademarks and designs

The Icelandic Intellectual Property Office (ISIPO) has amended its fee schedule in relation to patents, trademarks and designs, with the changes being the first since those implemented in 2018. The fees enter into effect as of May 1, 2020, bringing slight increases across the board.

The filing fee for a patent application has risen by 2.6% from 64.400 ISK to 66.100 ISK with the additional fee for each patent claim over 10 now constituting 4.300 ISK, rising by almost 5% from 4.100 ISK. The same fee of 4.300 ISK is now charged for each claim added after the filing of the application. The fees concerning the grant of a patent have similarly risen, with the previous publication fee of 27.600 ISK for the first 40 pages of the patent specification, inclusive of the description, claims, drawings and abstract, rising by 2.5% to 28.300 ISK. The cost of 1.200 ISK remains unchanged for each additional page over 40.

The annual fees for both patents and pending applications have seen consistent increases throughout the twenty-year protection period, with the growth in fees constituting approximately 3% for each year. As such, the fee due for the maintenance of a patent during years one to three, for example, has inflated by a mere 300 ISK, and the fee for the twentieth year has increased by 1600 ISK.

Trademark fees have been altered similarly to patents, with the increase comprising approximately 3% throughout. As such, the new fee for the filing of a trademark application is now 33.100 ISK, rising from the previous fee of 32.200 ISK. Furthermore, the fee for each additional class, which was initially 6.900 ISK, will now constitute 7.100 ISK. Inflating by 3.5%, the search fee for trademarks has risen from 5.800 ISK to 6.000 ISK. With regard to the launch of an opposition or revocation request, the fee will now constitute 42.500 ISK, increasing by 2.6% from 41.400 ISK.

Following the trend seen in both trademark and patent fees, the cost of design protection has risen by approximately 3%. It is worth noting that in Iceland, applicants may request design protection for multiple periods of five years up to a maximum of 25 years on filing, eradicating the need to request renewal every five years. The fee for an application to register a design for each five-year period will now require payment of 17.800 ISK as opposed to the previous amount of 17.300 ISK, constituting a rise of 2.8%. Each design in excess of one in a multiple registration for each five-year period will now cost 7.700 ISK, rising by 200 ISK from 7.500 ISK. Further, the examination fee has inflated by 300 ISK, from 11.000 ISK to 11.300 ISK.

Once a design has been obtained, the fee for the renewal of the same for each five-year period has risen from 21.900 ISK to 22.500 ISK. The renewal fee for each design in excess of one in a multiple design registration for each five-year period is now 7.700 ISK, with the previous fee being 7.500 ISK.

The increase in fees in line with inflation marks a common trend which is seen across patent offices globally. Whilst not substantially increased, the alteration in fees for patents, trademarks and designs will impact upon applicants, however, will assist ISIPO in funding the costs associated with providing IP protection.