Company News

What small business can learn from Apple & Samsung’s patent lawsuit

August 18, 2014

The World’s two biggest smartphone manufacturers, Apple and Samsung, have been fighting a very public patent war in the US courts, finally this week agreeing to drop litigation from territories outside of the US. Apple first sued Samsung in 2011 for alleged copyright breaches on the iPhone, Samsung then counter-sued in regions including South Korea, Japan, Australia, Germany, France and the UK. Although both sides have agreed to drop their legal action in regions outside of the US, the case…

Why you may be paying 4x more than the patent office fee to renew

July 28, 2014

We were really glad to see esteemed Intellectual Property blog IPKat discussing RenewalsDesk and the hidden costs that some renewals companies charge to patent holders. One of the most discussed issues from the article is how you can be charged up to four times the official patent office fee by many renewal agencies. “Over eight million patents are held worldwide by many thousands of businesses. All have to pay regular renewal fees, usually every year, to the Patent Office for each…

Hidden fees: Foreign exchange and the dark side of patent renewals

July 24, 2014

Well over eight million patents are held worldwide by many thousands of businesses, but only a small percentage of these businesses truly understand what they are paying to keep their patents in force. The vast majority – especially those without in-house IP expertise – are kept in the dark when it comes to the hugely inflated fees they end up paying every year to make patent renewals. As patents are granted and maintained on a country-by-country basis, most patent holder’s…

Daylight robbery: The hidden fees charged for annual patent renewals

July 23, 2014

Over eight million patents are held worldwide by many thousands of businesses. All have to pay regular renewal fees, usually every year, to the Patent Office for each country to keep their patents in force. The amount payable is usually modest (£100 or so) – varying from country to country and with the age of the patent. But you can be charged up to 4 times the actual cost to make these payments! This extra cost quickly mounts up when…

New Introductory Guide to Patent Renewals

April 20, 2014

We’ve written an Introductory Guide to Patent Renewals – perfect for patent holders or patent applicants who are new to the patent renewals process. Patent Renewal Fees (also known as Patent Maintenance Fees, Annuities or Annual Fees) are fees that you must pay on a regular basis in order to keep your patent in force. Even if you made a World or European patent application, when your patent is granted it is handled by the Patent Offices in each of the…

European Patent Office Application Renewals

April 9, 2014

It’s now possible to automatically look up and add European Patent Office (EPO) patent applications to your RenewalsDesk account, making renewing your European patent application very easy. You have to renew your European patent application each year in order to keep it active. If you miss a renewal, the office will consider your application withdrawn. Once your patent is granted, you don’t need to pay the EPO any more, but you will need to start paying each European member state in…

UK Patent Renewal Automatic Data Retrieval

March 31, 2014

Did you know that you need to pay the UK Intellectual Property Office annually (after the 4th anniversary of your patent’s filing date) in order to keep your patent in force in the UK.RenewalsDesk now offers you the ability to renew your UK patents quickly and easily.With automatic patent data retrieval and comprehensive guidance, it’s a simple process to get started with renewing your patents.For low volumes of patents, using RenewalsDesk will typically save you 20% or more over the…