The prices listed on the website are set to provide the best value for most of our clients. Bulk pricing is available for higher volumes.

Standard Pricing

For small to medium sized patent owners and IP firms, RenewalsDesk operates open book pricing at affordable levels. To check pricing, you have various options:

• Sign up for an Account – free budget reports and lifetime costs
• Renewals Calculator – check actual pricing based on your case data or do a quick fee check without using case data
• Try the RenewalsDesk App – just search for “RenewalsDesk” in either Apple/iOS or Android app store

Our pricing is given inclusive of all charges and fees, and nothing is added later. This includes Patent Office fees, agent charges, our service fee, and VAT (where applicable). What you see is what you get.

Bulk Pricing

Discounts are available for large numbers of patents. For further information, please contact us

You will be kept up to date on your renewal by email. You can log into your account to check the real-time status at any time.

RenewalsDesk Receipts

You will receive an email receipt for each renewal order made in your account.

Order History

In your RenewalsDesk Account, you can view your Invoice History, which includes a breakdown of each included renewal and it’s current status. Where the renewal is complete, you can view and download the electronic receipt document.

Order Completion

When your order is completed with the patent offices, your renewals will be confirmed, and the relevant receipt both sent to you by email and attached for viewing within your account in our client portal.

You have no foreign exchange worries.

Pay in British Pounds, US Dollars, Euro and many more

Although patent renewal fees are charged by patent offices all over the world in their local currency, RenewalsDesk handles all of the international transfers so you only pay in your preferred currency.

Real-Time Exchange Rates

RenewalsDesk uses real market exchange rates, updated daily, to quote the patent office fee you pay in your preferred currency. When we send you a notification or reminder for a renewal, the pricing is set for a given period, but the reverts back to the current rate. Prices can go up as well as down! We are aware of other companies padding the patent office fee they quote with huge hidden costs (in the worst case, nearly £2000 for a single renewal). RenewalsDesk does not hide any markup in the quoted patent office fees. It simply includes the patent office fee, so that you know exactly what you are paying for, and the total cost in your own currency, and the difference between these numbers is what you are paying us.

Our standard process is that we proceed with your patent renewals as soon as we have received payment. We do not bill you early, and hold on to your money for extended periods of time. We only invoice you when due dates are approaching and then we pay immediately on receipt of your remittance.

Invoicing Options

We have two main options for invoicing. We can invoice you automatically at the relevant time, in which case we will send you a notification of the upcoming fees to give you the opportunity to amend the listing of fees to be paid in advance of the invoice issuing. Alternatively, we can simply send you notifications regarding upcoming renewals, and you can request the invoice be issued when you are ready to pay. In this case, we will send notifications until we are instructed to issue an invoice, both before and after the due date and then shortly before the lapse of the patent, to give you a final opportunity to pay the fee with late fines. Our invoices can be issued in a wide range of currencies for payment by bank/wire transfer, and can be settled in major currencies by credit card.

Processing the Renewal

When your payment is made to us, the RenewalsDesk team will begin to process your renewal. In many major jurisdictions, we pay direct to the Patent Office, whilst for smaller jurisdictions, and those which require it, we use an agent to pay the fee on your behalf. In some cases, a Power of Attorney will be required, and we will let you know of any such requirement. Depending on the Patent Office, and other case specific factors, it can take from a few days to a few weeks or months for the process to be completed and a receipt uploaded to our system. You can track the progress of the renewal in our online portal, and we will upload each receipt as it is processed so that you can view and download at your convenience. You will receive email confirmation, and copies of each receipt, when the renewal group is complete.

Keeping your Patents Safe

RenewalsDesk uses secure processes to ensure that your patents are renewed on time. A combination of automated processing and manual overview from a team experienced in internal process management and operations ensures that your patents are handled with care and attention.

Reset your Password by selecting “Forgot Password” on the Log In screen.

Cancelling patent renewals, payments and your RenewalsDesk account.

Renewal Reminders

Once you are signed up to RenewalsDesk, we will of course send you notifications and reminders of your upcoming renewals. You can request us to stop sending such reminders at any time, and we will confirm this in writing. You can reinstate reminders at any time, simply by sending us an email.

Payments

After you have paid us, we will generally proceed promptly with the renewal. However, if you request cancellation of the payment of the renewal quickly, we may be able to cancel the process, and provide you with a credit note for the full amount you paid us, provided that we have not already incurred costs.

Your RenewalsDesk Account

You can cancel your RenewalsDesk Account at any time. Please be aware that RenewalsDesk will not make any new renewals on your behalf or issue any new reminder notices. Any renewals already in progress (i.e. where your remittance has been received and we have confirmed that we are paying the renewal) will of course be completed.

Account Reinstatement

As you will not be able to log in to your account to make any requests once it has been cancelled, please contact us to request account reinstatement.

Paying our Invoices

To make renewal payments, you just need to pay our invoice by the due date given in the invoice. This can be done by credit or debit card, or by bank/wire transfer. You can easily request an invoice from within the online portal, when logged into your RenewalsDesk account, and there is a secure payment link to our card services provider, WorldPay from within the portal, and within each invoice.

Card Payments

To make a card payment by debit or credit card, simply click the Pay Now button within the portal (ie. when you are logged in to your account) against any case included in the invoice. This will take you to a secure payment page hosted by WorldPay. The same secure payment page can be accessed by clicking the Pay Now button within the electronic invoice itself, which we will send you by email.

Bank/Wire Transfers

We hold local accounts in several jurisdictions, and multiple currency accounts, so you can pay us in your preferred currency and location. You will find the details of our account for payment, which will depend on your location and currency, at the bottom of your invoice.

RenewalsDesk is focused on keeping patent renewal costs as low as possible. We do this in three ways:

1. Online Tools Make Life Easier for Everyone

Our renewal fee calculator and online portal give clients the opportunity to add cases and check pricing for all major patent jurisdictions. You can also instruct us using the online portal and look at official receipts online after the renewal is completed. All correspondence is electronic so we don’t waste time and resources sending you lots of paper. All this makes our service more cost effective and easier for you.

2. No Hidden Fees

Unlike some competitors, RenewalsDesk does not pad prices and does not hide markups in foreign exchange rates. We do not cloud the issue of charges by telling you there is a specific service charge, and then adding in unspecified currency, country, banking and “other” charges, which in reality are all part of the charge to you for the service. In our system, you can see the official fee cost in the local currency, and our total charge in your preferred currency, and the difference between those is the total cost of us handling the renewal for you. It couldn’t be simpler.

3. Pricing Based on Our Costs

RenewalsDesk does not subscribe to the traditional pricing model of charging you more for each subsequent renewal throughout a patent’s lifetime – renewal fees only increase over the patent’s lifetime where our costs increase.

Data Verification

Where possible, when a patent is entered onto the RenewalsDesk system, the patent’s details will be automatically retrieved from the data held at the relevant patent office. If instant data retrieval is not possible, we will do this for you, shortly after you add your case to our system. This is a free service for clients of RenewalsDesk.

Safeguards against missing a renewal.

Email Reminder Service

RenewalsDesk will send you a first notification and then further reminders to whichever email or emails you specify. This can be the same email as the email address to which your RenewalsDesk Account is registered, or can be any other address you request us to send reminders to. If you are signed up with an account, reminders are sent until you ask us to stop sending them (or if you stop using the account, and are no longer instructing us, we can also cease sending them). It is easy to stop reminders. You can delete any or all your cases from the system from within the client portal, or you can just send us an email telling us which cases you no longer wish to receive reminders for.

Contact Phone Number

We also ask for a contact phone number so that we have another option for contacting you in the event of a renewal becoming late, and us requiring confirmation that you intend for the patent or other IP right to lapse.

Auto Invoicing

This is the safest approach because once we have invoiced the case or cases, we have a very clear indication that you intend to pay the fee, and so we will send all reminders and follow up to ensure that we have a positive answer from you as to whether you wish to maintain the rights or not. If you simply don’t instruct us despite our reminders (and you don’t have auto invoicing on), then we will have to assume that you are not interested in maintaining the rights.

Technical information about the online patent renewal service.

Cloud-based Access

RenewalsDesk is an online patent renewal service. You do not need to host the RenewalsDesk software on your in-house servers.

Security

Patent data on RenewalsDesk is secured by Thawte SSL, a respected provider of security certificates. Your password is held securely in an encrypted format.

Uptime

RenewalsDesk has an historic uptime record of 0.995% including maintenance periods. Maintenance periods are, except in emergency circumstances, confined to non-working hours. RenewalsDesk monitors the service responsiveness and speed: the service has an historic ApDex score of 0.99+ (out of 1). This is considered Excellent.

We know that a lot of patent renewal services are only interested in your business if you’ve got a certain number of patents. This makes it hard for companies with only a few patents to take control of patent renewals and to get a good deal.

Designed to be Accessible

You can open a Self-Service account with any number of patents. Pricing is also design to start at great rates for small numbers of renewals – no premium is charged for small accounts – so it’s economical to renew whether your company has just one patent or many.

You can get support in two ways. First, check the country renewal guides and our Patent Renewal Fee Calculator to see if your question can be answered there. If you cannot find the answer, contact us directly.

The current pricing policy is outlined below.

Free Features

There is no cost to setting up or running RenewalsDesk: No setup fee, no monthly fee and no retainer fee for using the service. A number of other features are also free of charge. There is no charge for:

• Creating a RenewalsDesk account for you or your employees
• Holding a RenewalsDesk account for any period of time
• Regular email reminders of upcoming renewals
• Patent data retrieval for countries where automatic data services are available

Renewal Pricing

The Pricing page outlines the basic pricing. It’s a simple per-renewal fee that varies by country and, in a small number of cases, by the year of renewal. Bulk pricing is available for large numbers of patents. The renewals price includes:

• Verification of your entered patent data against official databases, where available
• Transmission of the official renewal fee and any penalty late fees to the patent office
• Foreign currency exchange where appropriate
• Foreign agent interface where necessary
• Completion of all required documents
• Renewal tracking and follow up

Keeping up with new rules and legislation.

Updates Procedure

RenewalsDesk is maintained with up-to-date patent renewal laws and regulations. Processes are in place to ensure that rules changes are captured and processed in a timely manner. The service will reflect the most recent laws in force. Should any law changes affect the processing of your patent renewals, this will be communicated to you.

Paying renewals after the normal payment date

Normal Procedures

In normal circumstances, it is always preferred to pay renewal fees in good time before the due date. Our normal reminder timing is set to allow you plenty of time to attend to our invoice and to allow us plenty of time to attend to the payment of the fee. Even if your payment to us is delayed, we will always make our best efforts to pay fees in good time once we have received the remittance.

Late Payments

Of course, things don’t always run on time, and you may be late with your renewals for a range of reasons. Most countries have a period of grace after the patent renewal deadline (but be careful – some don’t!), during which the patent can still be renewed, but only with the payment of an additional penalty fee. The penalty fee can be fixed, or can increase with each additional late month. These penalty fees can be significant when compared with the original renewal fee. The usual “grace period” for late payment is 6 months, but this does vary. We will let you know the final date for payment of the fee if you do miss the original deadline. For further information on each country’s rules, see the country fee guide in the Knowledge Base.

Resitutio In Integrum

If there is no applicable grace period, or if payment is not made by the end of the grace period, the patent or application (or other IP right) lapses. It is then a costly and complicated process (called restoration/restitutio in integrum) to get a patent reinstated – if it is at all possible. If you unintentionally allow a patent or application to lapse, contact us for advice on how to proceed.

Full Range of Renewal Services

Our App and free renewal calculator provide free and easy information for patent renewals. However, we also provide a full range of renewal services for all IP types, including:

• Patents of different types, such as Patents of Addition and Innovation Patents
• Supplementary Protection Certificates
• Utility Models
• Design Rights
• Trademarks

Just send us an email with your IP listing and we will get back to you straight away with full pricing for your portfolio.

The short answer is: because if you don’t renew it, you will lose your patent.

The Purpose of Patent Renewals

There are two reasons a patent office requires every patent holder to pay a regular renewal fee. Firstly, it generates income for the patent office that allow it to continue its work of providing the intellectual property protection system. Secondly, the purpose of the patent system is to promote innovation and economic growth. Patent owners who make a commercial success of their product or service can protect themselves from competition for a limited period of time by enforcing their patent rights. If they are unable to commercialise their invention, the imposition of fees encourages patent owners to relinquish their rights to make them available for general use by other parties to use and develop. To find out more about specific patent renewal rules, read the patent renewal guides for each country.

Issuance of Official Documents and Patent Office Extracts

Formal Receipts

For renewals at patent offices that issue official receipts, an electronic copy of the official receipt or an extract from the Patent Office Register will be uploaded to your RenewalsDesk account and you will receive an email alert confirming that the renewal order is complete.

Other Receipts

Some countries don’t issue official receipts or provide access to the Patent Office Register. In this case, RenewalsDesk will provide the best possible confirmation that your renewal order has been processed, and will check for the completion of the order with the patent office or agent until renewal completion is confirmed.