After you apply

After you apply, we:

  • check your application meets our requirements
  • send you a receipt with your application number and filing date, this is the date we receive your application
  • Carry out a security check
  • tell you what you need to do and when.

You must send us claims, abstract, application fee and search fee within 12 months of your filing date, or priority date.

Request search

You must request a search within 12 months of your filing or priority date.

We check your application against published patents and documents to check your invention is new and inventive.

Publishing your application

If your application meets our requirements, we publish it just after 18 months from your filing or priority date.

Request substantive examination

You must request substantive examination within 6 months of publication.

We will examine your application and tell you if it meets our requirements. If it does not we will tell you what you need to do and how long you have to do it.

This can continue, for up to 4½ years from your filing or priority date.

Granting a patent

When your application meets our requirements, we grant your patent, publish it in its final form and send you a certificate.

Accelerated processing of a patent application

Various methods of accelerating the examination procedure are available - see our patents fast grant guidance PDF document(166Kb). You can also read about the Patent Prosecution Highway or Mutual Recognition whereby intellectual property offices can make use of work already conducted at another office.

Changing and renewing your patent

After your patent has been granted, you may want to change the details we hold about it and you will need to renew it regularly to keep it in force.

Time limits

A typical patent application takes 2 to 3 years to grant, however the procedure may be accelerated as explained above. There is generally a time limit of 4½ years from the application's earliest date.

You must meet requirements within the given time limits, or your application may be terminated. However, you can extend some time limits.

If your invention is pharmaceutical or a plant protection product, you may be able to extend your patent protection with a supplementary protection certificate (SPC).