I. Background

The European Patent Office (EPO) and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) announced on 24 September 2014 their intention to launch a comprehensive Patent Prosecution Highway pilot programme.

An updated list of forms available free of charge from the EPO and a list of selected publications are given below.

The forms and publications can be obtained from the EPO (preferably from Vienna, but also from Munich, The Hague and Berlin). The forms are also available from the central industrial property offices of the EPC contracting states.

The fees guidance currently applicable is set out in OJ EPO 2014, A37 ff.

The current schedule of fees and expenses of the EPO is set out in supplementary publication 3, OJ EPO 2014.

Fee information is also published on the EPO website: www.epo.org/fees.

New fee rates

By the new State Fees Act of 10 December 2014^[ 1 ] some patent fees payable to the Estonian Patent Office have been changed.

Applicants for and proprietors of European patents with effect in Estonia are advised that from 1 January 2015 the following rates apply:

New fee rates

The Turkish Patent Institute has informed us that some patent fees have been changed. ^[ 1 ]

Applicants for and proprietors of European patents with effect in Turkey are advised that from 1 January 2015 the rates below apply. The figures in brackets are the reduced amounts recently introduced for users paying fees and filing documents online.