Increases In Official Fees At The EPO Effective 1 April 2026

The EPO has announced that, following a Decision of the Administrative Council of 11 December 2025 (CA/D 9/25), a number of its official fees will increase from 1 April 2026.

The affected fees are largely set to rise by about 5%. These increases will apply to several key fees incurred during patent prosecution and renewal, including:

• European search fee, increasing from €1520 to €1595.
• Examination fee, increasing from €1915 to €2010.
• Designation fee, increasing from €685 to €720.
• Excess claims fees (for the 16^th-50^th claim, each), increasing from €275 to €290.
• Grant fee, increasing from €1080 to €1135.

Some fees will not be subject to this increase: filing fees, opposition fees, appeal fees and excess pages fees for pages over 35 will remain unchanged.

New rates will take effect on 1 April, so clients may wish to review their patent portfolios and consider paying upcoming affected fees on or before 31 March 2026 where possible.

For instance, the current lower rates may be taken advantage of by filing direct European patent applications ahead of the 12-month priority deadline, and by filing PCT European regional phase entries ahead of the 31-month deadline, should those deadlines fall on or after 1 April 2026.

Additionally, European patent application renewal fees in respect of the third year may be paid up to six months in advance, and in respect of the fourth to twentieth years up to three months in advance. Therefore, for applications with a filing date of April, May or June (as well as July, August or September 2024), renewal fees may be paid at their current rate before 1 April 2026.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.