Changes to patents fees on 6 April 2018
Changes to UK patents fees will come into force on 6 April 2018.
The IPO has published a summary table and guidance for business so that businesses can familiarise themselves with the fee changes.

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Fees 

Changes in fees payable under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

Notice is given that the fees (chapter 1) payable in connection with applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty at the UK Intellectual Property Office (RO/GB) are changed with effect from 01 April 2018.

Transmittal Fee: £75

Search Fee: £1,552

International Fee:

(a) For the first 30 sheets: £1,029

(b) For each sheet over 30: £12

Restoration for Restoration of Priority: £150

Reductions for E – FILING	

Electronic filing (not being in character coded format): £155

Electronic filing (being in character coded format): £232

Fees for preparation of Priority Document: £20

Directions under section 123(2A) of the Patents Act 1977

Patents Form 9A, 10, 15, 21 and 34 

1.	The comptroller has made these Directions under section 123(2A) of the Patents Act 1977. 

2.	These Directions set out some changes to Patents Form 9A, 10, 15 and 21 and the introduction of Patent Form 34 whose use is required by rules.

3.	These Directions come into force on 6 April 2018. 

4.	The following Patents Forms as set out in the Schedule to these Directions are the forms whose use is required by the Patents Rules 2007 (SI 2007/3291), as amended:

Patents Form 9A (Request for search)

Patents Form 10 (Request for substantive examination)

Patents Form 15 (Notice of opposition to proceedings before the Comptroller)

Patents Form 21 (Application to register or give notice of rights)

Patents Form 34 (Grant fee for patent application)

5.	Patents Form 9A and 10, as so set out, replace the corresponding forms in the Schedule to the Directions made on 10 September 2014 (which came into force on 27 September 2014). The Directions made on 10 September 2014 are, to that extent, revoked. 

6.	Patents Form 15, as so set out, replace the corresponding form in the Schedule to the Directions made on 30 March 2009 (which came into force on 6 April 2009). The Directions made on 30 March 2009 are, to that extent, revoked. 

7.	Patents Form 21, as so set out, replaces the corresponding form in the Schedule to the Directions made on 1 September 2016 (which came into force on 1 October 2016). The directions made on 1 September 2016 are, to that extent, revoked.

8.	Patents Form 34, as so set out, is introduced in the Schedule to the Directions which come into force on 6 April 2018. 

TIM MOSS
Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks

Guidance and notes on the directions given under section 123(2A)
Patents forms 9A, 10, 15, 21 and 34
(a) These notes are not part of the directions. They are intended to provide background and additional information.
(b) The Interpretation Act 1978 applies to these directions. Therefore, all the definitions set out in the Patents Act apply to these directions. Further, amongst other things, generally any words importing the masculine gender include the feminine and words in the singular include the plural and words in the plural include the singular.
(c) Section 123(2A) of the Patents Act allows the comptroller to give directions specifying any forms the use of which is required by the Patents Rules.
(d) Patents Form 9A, Patents Form 10, Patents Form 15 and Patents Form 21 have been revised and Patents Form 34 has been introduced as set out below.
Form 9A (Request for search)
(e) Patents Form 9A has been revised to reflect a change to the search fee which comes into force on 6 April 2018. A new section has been added to allow the applicant to declare the number of claims in their application. A related note (f) has been added to the notes on the form which sets out the threshold when claim fees become payable. 
Form 10 (Request for substantive examination)
(f) Patents Form 10 has been revised to reflect a change to the fee for substantive examination which comes into force on 6 April 2018. A new section has been added to allow the applicant to declare the number of pages of description in their application. A related note (c) has been added to the notes on the form to inform on the threshold when pages fees become payable.
Form 21 (Application to register or give notice of rights acquired in a patent or in an application for a patent)
(g) Patents Form 21 has been amended to improve the clarity of the form. Tick boxes have been introduced into Part 5 in order to clarify the type of transaction, instrument or event which is being registered. Part 6 has been amended to make clear that either the name and address of the agent acting for the person making the transaction needs to be provided or an address for service should be provided to which all correspondence relating to the transaction should be sent. Part 7 has been amended to remove the previous tick boxes and replace them with a request for the agent or address for service which is to be used by the new owner. 
(h) Minor amendments have also been made to correct a phone number, provide a link to a schedule template in the notes and to clarify that applicants may tick multiple tick boxes in part 9.
Form 15 (Notice of opposition)
(i) Reference to an explanatory leaflet has been removed as the leaflet is no longer in use by the office. 
Form 34 (Grant fee for patent application)
(j) A new form has been introduced which will allow us to collect the grant fee (made up of any outstanding excess claims or pages fees), where required, before an application proceeds to grant. This reflects changes to the Patents fees which come into force on 6 April 2018.
(k) All of the UK patents forms (and information about associated fees) are available on our website.
(l) Any queries about these directions should be addressed to:
Intellectual Property Office 
Concept House
Patents Legal Section 
Cardiff Road 
Newport 
South Wales 
NP10 8QQ 
United Kingdom 
Telephone: +44(0)30 0300 2000
Telephone: +44(0)16 3381 4000
Minicom: +44(0)30 0020 0015
Fax: +44(0)16 3381 7777

The British Library - Recent additions to the Library

The following transcripts of High Court Decisions have been received at the British Library.

Plaintiff(s) & Defendants(s)	Date Of Hearing	Date Of Hearing	

(1) Illumina Inc
(2) Verinata Health Inc
(3) Sequenom Inc
(4) The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University

(1) Illumina Inc
(2) The Chinese University of Hong Kong
-and-
(1) Premaitha Health plc
(2) Premaitha Limited
-and between-
(1) Illumina Inc
(2) Sequenom Inc
-and-
(1) TDL Genetics Limited
(2) The Doctors Laboratory Limited
(3) Ariosa Diagnostics Inc		
C/010/18
	
PulseOn Oy
-and-
Garmin (Europe) Limited	

	C/011/18
	
(1) L'Oréal Société Anonyme
(2) L'Oréal (UK) Limited
-and-
RN Ventures Limited	7, 8, 13 December
2017	C/012/18	
(1) Parainen Pearl Shipping Limited (a company Registered under the laws of the Marshall Islands)
(2) SMT Shipping (Cyprus) Limited (a company Registered under the laws of Cyprus)
(3) Eureka Shipping Limited (a company Registered under the laws of Cyprus)
-and-
(1) Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi AS (a company Registered under the laws of Norway)
(2) KGJS Cement AS (a company Registered under the Laws of Norway)
(3) KGJ Cement AS (a company Registered under the laws of Norway)		C/013/18