IPO consults on proposed reduction to registered design fees
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IPO consults on proposed reduction to registered design fees
The UK IPO has issued a consultation on proposed changes to the fees relating to UK registered designs, including the fees for applications, renewals, invalidity applications, requests for information, deferred publication and certified office copies. The consultation is open until 29 January 2016.
In a foreword to the consultation paper, the Minister for Intellectual Property, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, explains that the IPO’s recent launch of an online application service for registered designs will result in significant cost savings which should be passed on to users of the system.
The consultation paper is a short one containing four broad questions, directed primarily towards whether the proposed reductions in fees will encourage more filing of registered design applications. Among other things, the IPO proposes allowing applicants to include up to ten designs for a single application fee of GBP 70. (Applying for ten designs under the current system costs GBP 420.) It also suggests reducing renewal fees; for example, the renewal fee for the first extension of protection (which is currently GBP 130) would be reduced to GBP 70.