New Intellectual Property legislation and updated official IP fee schedules implemented across the globe
Monaco
A new intellectual property fee schedule was enforced with respect to IP matters in Monaco as of April 1, 2024, following a trend of annual fee alterations in the country.
Patents
With regard to patents, the annual renewal fees have risen consistently throughout. Whilst the cost for the first and second annuities remain the same, the fee for the third annuity has increased by 10% from 50 EUR to 55 EUR. The tenth year now requires the payment of 195 EUR, rising by an approx. 5% from 185 EUR, and the fee for the fifteenth year has risen by the same percentage from 370 EUR to 390 EUR. The fee payable for the twentieth year of annuity has increased by approx. 4% from 450 EUR to 470 EUR.
The fee for a registration request for a patent to be entered onto the special register by title has risen by approx. 17% from 30 EUR to 35 EUR.
Implemented earlier this year, the fee for the establishment of a patent search report rose by approx. 6% from 2336 EUR to 2468 EUR as of January 1, 2024.
Trademarks
In relation to trademarks, the fee for the filing of an application has increased from 100 EUR to 120 EUR, whilst the cost for the renewal of a trademark right has risen from 150 EUR to 180 EUR, both constituting an inflation of 20%.
The surcharge fee per class of goods or services beyond the initial three for both filing and renewal, as well as the fee for entering a trademark onto the special register, have risen by approx. 17% from 30 EUR to 35 EUR.
Industrial Designs
The fee in relation to the filing of an industrial design application has increased by approx. 17% from 30 EUR to 35 EUR.
Both the fee for the granting of protection per design and the fee for an extension of the design protection period have risen by approx. 33% from 15 EUR to 20 EUR.
The costs associated with the registration of an industrial design on the special register have also risen in the same way as for patents and trademarks, now comprising 35 EUR.
India
As of March 15, 2024, the new “Patent (Amendment) Rules” were implemented in India introducing a multitude of significant amendments to the previous IP system.
Among the most notable amendments introduced by way of the new legislation is the implementation of a new time period in which a Request for Examination (RFE) must be filed. Whilst the previous patent rules allowed for such a request to be submitted within 48 months, the new rules now mean that any request for examination must be filed within 31 months from the earliest priority date for all applications filed on or after March 15, 2024. For applications filed prior to that date, the period for examination request remains at 48 months.
The new patent rules have also introduced several other amendments to time limits spanning across the patent application process.
Further changes to the law have amended the requirement to tile a Commercial Working Statement each financial year. Instead, applicants are now obliged to file such statements once every three financial years, with the deadline for the initial statement being within the 6-month prior to the end of the third fiscal year. It is possible to request an extension of time or allowance of delays for the filing of the Working Statement by up to three months upon the filing of such requests to the IPO.
Moreover, the period of time allowed for the submission of details and information in relation to parallel foreign patent applications alongside a patent application in India has been changed from 6 months from the date of the foreign filing to 3 months from the date of issuance of the First Examination Report (FER). An extension of time by up to three months for the submission of such information is available upon request and payment of the corresponding fees.
Moreover, the new rules clarify that patent applicants may voluntarily file divisional applications in relation to patent subject matter that had been previously disclosed in their earlier applications, whether they were provisional, complete, or other divisional applications.
Several official fees have been amended owing to the new patent rules in India. As such, a new fee for the filing of a pre-grant opposition has been introduced at the rate of 4,000 INR for individuals and small/educational entities, and 20,000 INR for large entities. A further new fee of 900 INR has also been introduced for the filing of request for a Certificate of Inventorship, whilst the previous fees in relation to a request to add an inventor to a patent application have been abolished.
The fees in relation to the filing of a post-grant opposition have increased by approx. 233% from 2,400 INR to 8,000 INR for small entities, and from 12,000 INR to 40,000 INR for large entities.
Finally, any annual renewal fees that will be due are now able to be paid in advance in relation to a future period of 2 or more years. Rights holders who opt to pay any annual fees in advance for 4 or more years will benefit from a 10% reduction in said fees.
Multiple other amendments have been introduced by the new patent legislation pertaining to formalities and administrative form filing in relation to patent applications. The alterations to the Indian patent law signify a move toward a more modernized IP system for the nation, with the alterations hoped to streamline the patent protection process and encourage further filings.
Algeria
Algeria has also implemented amendments to its intellectual property fees. As of March 29, 2024, the Algerian National Institute of Industrial Property implemented a new 19% VAT rate which was applied to all official intellectual property fees across the board.
The amended VAT rate applied to IP fees was implemented owing to changes to the universal tax system of Algeria.
Libya
The Libyan Trademark Office has announced several significant advancements to the trademark system of the country over recent months.
Among the most recent alterations to the IP system, as of March 6, 2024, is that all trademark applicants are obliged to adhere to the list of goods and services pertaining to trademark class as per the Libyan trademark regulations. Applicants are able to utilize the goods and services listed to categorize the class and purpose for which their trademark registration is sought with flexibility via the Libyan system.
A decision that was published and implemented on February 25, 2024 enforced the cancellation of all trademarks which were previously registered and published in Libya but failed to be renewed by the right holder. This cancellation mandate is applicable to all non-renewed marks which were published prior to 2021. More specifically, such cancellation for non-renewed marks applies to trademark number 22100 and below.
A further decision implemented at the beginning of the year has introduced the requirement for all applicants to have any documents submitted to the Libyan IP Office after January 5, 2024 locally attested for and authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Libya.
Slovakia
As of April 1, 2024, amendments to the administrative fees in relation to actions and proceedings before the Industrial Property Office of Slovakia entered into effect.
As per the new administrative fees, the discount of 50% for submissions filed by electronic means has been maintained, however, a new cap on the maximum amount of reduction has now been implemented. As such, the maximum discount available is now 50 EUR as opposed to the previous possible 70 EUR maximum discount amount.
The new administrative fees have also introduced an approx. 52% increase to the costs associated with requests to renew proceedings or review a decision outside of appeal proceedings at a state administration body. As such, the fee has risen from 16.50 EUR to 25 EUR for individuals and from 165.50 EUR to 250 EUR for legal entities or individuals authorized in business.
PCT fees
The World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) has recently announced changes to their international fees implemented as of April 1, 2024.
In Finland, for example, the search fee for a PCT application rose by an approx. 4% from 1,775 EUR to 1,845 EUR. The same fee increase also applies to the additional PCT search fee and the supplementary search fee for PCT applications with respect to Finland.
The PCT fees for Norway applicants have seen a similar rise, with the international search fee increasing by an approx. 4% from 20,090 NOK to 20,880 NOK.