Renewals of rights
The duration of the monopoly granted by the legislator for individual industrial property rights varies. The maintenance of an exclusive right requires the periodical payment of fees to the competent authority in the amount due. The deadlines for the payment of periodic fees for protection vary depending on the type of right and the procedure or country of protection.
In proceedings before the Polish Patent Office, the duration of patent protection for inventions is 20 years, and for utility model protection rights only 10 years. The modes of payment of protection fees are also different. For patents, fees are paid every year, while for utility models the fee is paid divided into four periods. On the other hand, when a supplementary patent is granted, a one-off fee is charged to protect the invention. On the other hand, if a supplementary patent becomes a patent, periodic fees are charged for each started year of protection of the invention.
In proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO), the protection of inventions is already paid for during the pending proceedings, starting from the third year of protection. Thereafter, depending on the choice of procedure (validation or patent with unitary effect), protection fees are paid to national offices or to the EPO.
The right to register an industrial design is granted for 25 years from the date of filing the application with the Office for the Protection of Industrial Designs, divided into five-year periods. The term of protection of a trademark is even more varied. For this right, protection is calculated from the filing date and lasts for 10 years. However, it can be renewed for further 10-year periods without time limit. Well-known trademarks remain protected for decades. As for geographical indications, their protection is unlimited and lasts from the date of registration in the Register of Geographical Indications kept by the PPO.
Monitoring the deadlines for the payment of renewal fees is an important responsibility, as failure to pay the due renewal fee by the required deadline may result in the loss of the right granted. We are happy to take on this responsibility, leaving room for entrepreneurs to be creative. We also advise on how to optimise the portfolio of exclusive rights in order to pay for the protection of valuable IP assets that provide a market advantage for our clients’ businesses.
By entrusting the FGGH IP team with the monitoring of payment deadlines, the entrepreneur can be assured that the client’s IP rights are properly protected against the risk of termination of protection due to non-payment. We also advise on situations where the deadline for payment of the fee has passed, and consider possible remedies, as the client’s interests are of paramount importance to us. We also manage the portfolio of exclusive rights and optimise the cost of maintaining protection by adapting the IP protection strategy to the client’s business situation.