What is a grace or surcharge period?

During the surcharge period, we aim to give clear communication to you to ensure you have the best opportunity to pay for the renewal with a surcharge fee.

1. Our system sends a Surcharge Instruction Request for all cases due in the same month.
2. Then it sends up to 3 reminders for you to decide if you wish to renew your cases that have now entered the surcharge period. Read about our email notifications to get more details.
3. If you wish to renew the patents, please email us. 
4. We will then issue the respective Deposit Request/Invoice and Deposit Request, which include a surcharge fee. 

This surcharge fee can be fixed or can increase with every day passed after the original deadline. The duration of the grace period can vary from country to country, however in almost all jurisdictions worldwide this period is usually 6 months.

Keep in mind that not all jurisdictions provide a period of grace for inventors to renew, and even if they do, the surcharge fees can be significantly higher than the original renewal fees.

In order to demonstrate how surcharge fees work, let's take a look at a few scenarios:

In the first scenario, the patent will expire on the 1st of June. Due to failure of payment, the patent holder will have to pay an additional fixed fee (€100) with every starting month. In this example, if you pay between the 1st of June and the 1st of July you need to pay the original renewal fee plus one additional fixed surcharge fee (€100). If you would pay on the 15th of September, you would pay plus four additional fixed surcharge fees (€400) on top of your original renewal fee. Your patent would expire 6 months after the renewals’ due date, on the 1st of December.

In the second scenario, similar to the first, the patent will expire on the 1st of June, however in this case the surcharge fee (€100) increases by 50% with every month. In this example, if you pay between the 1st of June and the 1st of July you pay an additional surcharge fee (€100). On the other hand, if paid on the 15th of September, you would pay the original surcharge fee (€100) for June, but since the surcharge fee increases by 50% every month, you would have to pay €150 for July, €225 for August, and €337,5 for September. All in all, you would pay €812.5 on top of your original renewal fee. Your patent would expire 6 months after the renewals' due date, on the 1st of December.

In the third scenario, the patent will expire on the 1st of June, but now in the first 2 months of the surcharge period there are no additional surcharge fees, but from the third month, there is a surcharge (€200) which is increasing by 100% with every starting month. In this example, if you pay between the 1st of June and the 1st of July you only need to pay the original renewal fee and no surcharge fees. On the other hand, if paid on the 15th of September, you would pay the surcharge fee (€200) for August, but since the surcharge fee increases by 1000% every month after, you would have to pay €400 for September. In summary, you would pay a €600 surcharge on top of your original renewal fee. Your patent would expire 6 months after the renewals' due date, on the 1st of December.

To avoid the patent to expire, please do not miss the surcharge period.