Reviewed 5 October 2009

Cheaper, faster patents improve business efficiency

Reducing fees for electronic patent applications and streamlining the process for all patent applications will mean a more attractive proposition for businesses as they seek to develop their ideas into successful enterprises.

These plans, developed and launched by the Intellectual Property Office, will make the patent system faster and more efficient. They will also see electronic application fees fall by as much as fifteen per cent.

The initiatives are:

  • A New Priority Document Access Service (PDAS). This free service will benefit UK business by allowing patent priority documents to be stored at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) for future use. This will reduce the costs businesses face by removing the need to provide paper copies of GB priority documents to each participating IP office.
  • Worksharing. Changes to patents forms have been made in preparation for mutual recognition and other worksharing initiatives which will ease the backlogs the international patent system faces. This will result in a more effective global patent system and in turn enable businesses to get international protection quicker and more easily in future.
  • Fee Reduction for Electronic Filers. E-filed applications and search and examination requests will now be eligible for a 15% reduction in fees; again making it cheaper for businesses to get protection. The Intellectual Property Office is passing on the administrative savings of electronic filings to their customers.

Commenting on the changes David Lammy, Minister of State for Intellectual Property said:

"We remain committed to supporting UK businesses, especially during the downturn, and this means helping them to safeguard their intellectual property.

"This is why the Intellectual Property Office is streamlining the patent system, saving companies both time and money and making the whole process more appealing.

"The UK wants to create a more effective global patent system and is leading the way with its mutual recognition initiatives. Filing electronically will reduce delays for offices; making the patenting process far simpler for businesses and benefit them financially too."

Further details on the Priority Document Access Service (PDAS), Mutual Recognition and our electronic filing services can be found on the Intellectual Property Office website.

Editor notes

  • The Intellectual Property Office is within the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills and responsible for the national framework of Intellectual Property rights, comprising patents, designs, trade marks and copyright.
  • Its role is to help manage an IP system that encourages innovation and creativity, balances the needs of consumers and users, promotes strong and competitive markets and is the foundation of the knowledge based economy.
  • It operates in a national and an international environment and its work is governed by national and international law, including various international treaties relating to IP to which the United Kingdom is a party.
  • Use of Priority Document Access Service (PDAS) is voluntary and offers a simple and secure alternative to filing paper copies of priority documents with multiple Patent Offices.
  • It enables an applicant claiming priority to request another PDAS participating office to retrieve an electronic copy of the priority document through WIPO, who will access the digital priority documents via their own or other participating offices’ document libraries.
  • The confidentiality of priority documents that are not yet publicly available will be ensured via an access control list within the service monitored by the patent applicant.
  • The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is working with other IP offices to investigate how to share results of search and examination more systematically through mutual recognition.
  • There is a backlog of up to 10 million unprocessed patent applications in patent offices worldwide. In some countries it can now take up to 10 years to get a patent granted.
  • Search and/or examination results shared before publication of the UK application will be shared on a confidential basis. Any shared results will not be made publicly available before the publication in the UK.
  • For electronically filed patent requests, a reduction of £10 will be available where the patent application and Form 1 are filed electronically and the fee is paid at the same time.
  • A reduction of £10 will be available on search and examination fees, when the requests are filed electronically (using the Form 9A or Form 10 respectively).
  • For enquiries about the Intellectual Property Office press or media activities please contact Katie Phillips on +44 (0) 1633 814326 or James Thomson on +44(0)20 7034 2847

Date of release: 5 October 2009