As a service for clients and interested parties, Eisenführ Speiser has developed its own fee calculator for the unitary patent. With this calculator, the (estimated) costs of a unitary patent can be quickly and easily compared with those of various validations of a bundle patent. Thus, the fee calculator is a great help in estimating the costs of individual validation strategies and enables the profitability of a unitary patent to be assessed. In the latest version of the fee calculator, the estimated costs are displayed graphically over the years, so that individual strategies can now be compared even more easily.

You can quickly and easily download the current version of Eisenführ Speiser's fee calculator for the unitary patent in our download area.

Using the fee calculator:

Selection of individual states of interest

The lower half of the fee calculator lists the respective EPO member states, distinguishing between states,

(1a, left) which are already covered by the unitary patent,
(2a, middle) which are not yet covered by the unitary patent, but will be in the future, or
(3a, below) which can only be obtained by validation via an EP bundle patent.

The individual states for which protection is sought can be selected via the check boxes.

Please note: A unitary patent always covers the entire territory currently covered; deletions or additions of individual states are not possible with a unitary patent, neither at the time of registration nor during the term of the patent.

Selection of the expected term

In the upper left half of the fee calculator, the expected or planned term of the patent can be selected via the check boxes comparing the costs of a unitary patent and individual validations via an EP bundle patent. The respective years for which the (annual) fees are to be paid have to be selected here.

Please note: A cost calculation and subsequent comparison is only useful for a non-interrupted selection of years. The (final) non-payment of an annual fee leads to the loss of the patent from the year for which no fees were paid, so that no costs need to be calculated in subsequent years either.

Result

After selection of the states and term (see above), the comparison of the (estimated) costs of a unitary patent and individual validations via an EP bundle patent appears in the right half of the fee calculator. In this comparison, the (estimated) costs are only given for the territory of those states already covered by the unitary patent, i.e. for which a decision can actually be made between a unitary patent or validation via an EP bundle patent. The cost savings (or, where applicable, additional expenditure) of a unitary patent are indicated as a percentage compared to the (estimated) costs of validations via an EP bundle patent.

In the middle of the fee calculator, the (estimated) costs are shown for all selected states and over the selected term, comparing the costs if a unitary patent is chosen (left) with those without a unitary patent (right).

All costs are estimated based on experience and only include the costs of annual fees, translations and, if applicable, individual validation fees.