EPO fees hub
Everything a US company needs on European patent renewal fees: the official EPO annuity schedule while the application is pending, Unitary Patent renewal fees after grant, and a calculator comparing classic country-by-country validation with the Unitary Patent.
Paid to the EPO each year from the third year until grant, due on the last day of the anniversary month of filing.
| Renewal year | Official fee |
|---|---|
| 3rd year | €610 |
| 4th year | €760 |
| 5th year | €1,065 |
| 6th year | €1,360 |
| 7th year | €1,510 |
| 8th year | €1,650 |
| 9th year | €1,780 |
| 10th year and later | €2,015 |
A single annual fee covering every participating member state — the "True Top 4" schedule.
| Year | Renewal fee |
|---|---|
| Year 2 | €35 |
| Year 3 | €105 |
| Year 4 | €145 |
| Year 5 | €315 |
| Year 6 | €475 |
| Year 7 | €630 |
| Year 8 | €815 |
| Year 9 | €990 |
| Year 10 | €1,175 |
| Year 11 | €1,460 |
| Year 12 | €1,775 |
| Year 13 | €2,105 |
| Year 14 | €2,455 |
| Year 15 | €2,830 |
| Year 16 | €3,240 |
| Year 17 | €3,640 |
| Year 18 | €4,055 |
| Year 19 | €4,455 |
| Year 20 | €4,855 |
1 · Target countries
Countries marked non-UP sit outside the Unitary Patent territory and always need a separate national validation.
3 · Options
Classic validation
€37,015
Unitary Patent (+ non-UP states)
€50,010
Over 20 years, classic validation is cheaper by €12,995. With a small footprint you pay less by validating only where you actually trade — and you keep the option to drop countries later.
Annual fee profile
Dark bar = classic validation · brass bar = Unitary Patent route.
Indicative official fees only, in euros, for planning purposes. National annuities, translation requirements and attorney charges vary by country and by year, and exchange rates move. Ask for a written estimate before budgeting.
What the numbers hide
A Unitary Patent lives or dies as a whole before the UPC. Classic validations can be attacked only country by country.
With classic validation you drop expensive countries as the product matures. Unitary renewal fees are all-or-nothing.
The Unitary Patent covers participating states you might never sell in — worth it only if the fee curve still beats your real footprint.
After grant
EPO renewal fees stop at grant. From that day a classic European patent becomes a bundle of national patents, and each validated country charges its own maintenance fee on its own deadline, in its own currency.
Where the money goes. Germany has one of the steepest national schedules, especially after year 10. France, Italy and the United Kingdom are moderate. Spain, Poland and most smaller states are low. Validation itself is due within three months of the mention of grant in most contracting states, and several still require translations.
Country mix drives lifetime cost. Most efficient US-owned portfolios validate in a core group — Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, sometimes Italy and Spain — rather than everywhere the patent could be validated. Coverage you never enforce is coverage you pay for twenty times.
The Unitary Patent changes the arithmetic. Its renewal fees are set to approximate the combined cost of the four most-validated states, as one payment, with no translations and no national agents. Beyond four or five countries it usually wins; for one or two countries selective national validation is cheaper. It does not cover the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway or Turkey.
Annuities are back-loaded. Years 15 to 20 carry the highest fees, which is exactly when many US companies should be pruning low-value jurisdictions. Review the portfolio every year against current revenue, licensing value and product lifecycle — not against the original filing plan.
The most common failures are validating too broadly, missing the hand-off from EPO renewals to national annuities, and tracking European and USPTO maintenance deadlines as if they followed the same rules. They do not.
EPO renewal fees FAQ
Background reading: European patent maintenance fees explained.