If you’re an IP owner with Canadian IP rights, you should (hopefully) know about the patent and trademark fee increase coming in January 2024. There’s not much you can do to stop the increase, but with a couple of months until the change takes effect, you have some options to save money. We look at some of your choices this week, so let’s go!
Do you have Canadian Trademarks due for renewal in the first half of 2024?
You can renew Canadian trademarks six months before the end of their term, so you should be able to trim your costs by pulling trademark renewals forward into 2023. The potential savings will vary based on your portfolio size and number of classes, but here is a basic model that you can use to estimate your savings:
- Renewals for a single-class registration will increase by CAD 133.98
- Additional classes will increase by CAD 41.42
If you have 100 single-class renewals due in early 2024, you can save CAD 13,398 by paying earlier (assuming your law firm or payment vendor doesn’t charge anything extra). The more renewals you have, or the more classes, the more you can save by renewing early. If you only have one or two trademarks, it’s probably not worth the hassle.
Are you planning on filing some Canadian trademarks?
Much like renewal costs, trademark application costs are increasing as well. Since the timing of applications is discretionary, it makes sense to do what you can before the price increase. Still, the savings will be nominal unless you are a large organization with many filings.
Single-class applications are increasing by CAD 110.65, so it won’t break the bank if you don’t get your solo application filed before the end of the year. If you are filing 10 or 20 applications, it will undoubtedly be worthwhile to make sure they get filed before the increase.
Do you have patent annuities due for renewal?
Patent annuities can also be paid six months in advance, allowing patent owners to pay their maintenance fees in 2023 and avoid the fee increase. To keep things complicated, the fee increase for maintenance payments varies based on the age of the patent.
- For payment due on the 2nd through the 4th anniversary, the new fee is only CAD 25 more.
- The 15th to 19th anniversary is CAD 150.35.
If you have 100 young patents, you can save CAD 2,500 by pulling maintenance payments into 2023. Renewing 100 older patents early can save you CAD 15,000, which could make the exercise worthwhile.
What about patent applications?
Just like with trademark applications, patent applications are discretionary, so it makes sense to file them before the increase if you can. Application costs are increasing by CAD 134 and examination costs by CAD 295. Still, considering that charges for a law firm to draft a patent application are likely between CAD 6,000 and CAD 10,000+, these increases are more of an annoyance than anything.
Wrapping it all up
Cost increases are never welcomed, and the upcoming Canadian increases are no exception, but they are unlikely to impact budgets for most organizations significantly. Larger organizations with a large volume of patent annuities or trademark renewals coming due have the potential for meaningful savings by paying in 2023; otherwise, the increases will be a few hundred Canadian dollars here and there for IP owners.
Want to check your annuity invoice currency costs?
Check out our free patent annuity self-audit tool
Need to Look up Exchange Rates?
We recommend OANDA
