Annual Fees and Renewal Monitoring

Annual Fees of Patents and Patent Applications

In order to maintain the patent applications or granted patents in force, official annual fees, in other words maintenance fees, are to be paid. The annual fees are payable separately to the relevant patent authority in each country in which the patent application is pending or in which a patent has been granted. The term of a patent is generally 20 years from the application date provided that the annual fees have been paid on time.

The due date of the first annual fee varies from country to country. In most countries, the first annual fee falls due 1 to 3 years after the filing date of the application (e.g. Finland, EPO), whereas in some countries the annual fees fall due only after a patent has been granted (e.g. USA).

Renewal Fees of Utility Models

A renewal fee is payable for Finnish utility models after they have been granted. A renewal fee shall be paid twice for four years and once again for two years. The due date is calculated on the basis of the filing date of the utility model application, and the term of the protection is up to 10 years from this date.

Renewal Monitoring of Trademark and Design Registrations

As a rule, trademark registrations are to be renewed every ten years and design registrations every five years for the registrations to maintain in force.

We monitor the renewal dates of trademark and design registrations for our customers and take care of the renewal procedures.