In order to promote access to the European patent for « small » applicants, the European Patent Office (EPO) will introduce on April 1st a new fee reduction system for micro-enterprises, individuals, non-profit organizations , universities and public research organizations.
A micro-enterprise is in this regard defined by reference to recommendation 2003/361/EC of the European Commission, namely a company which employs fewer than ten people and whose annual turnover or balance sheet total does not exceed 2 million euros.
These structures will benefit from a 30% reduction on the main fees linked to the patent grant procedure, provided that they have filed fewer than five European patent applications over the last five years.
The benefit of this reduction is subject to a declaration at the time of payment of the fee(s) concerned and is only valid as long as the applicant(s) meet(s) the criteria mentioned above.
It should be noted in this regard that in the event of a declaration of status made incorrectly (the EPO will carry out random checks), the unduly reduced fee(s) will be deemed not to have been validly paid and, therefore, the patent application will be deemed withdrawn. It will then be necessary to pay the full fee(s), plus a 50% surcharge, to reinstate the European patent application.
