Accelerating the Patent Process

The patent process can take three to four years in the UK, or even longer in Europe. This suits some people - as long as you have a pending application, you can launch your product (you don’t need a granted patent). For other clients, a speedy process may be important because:

• You might know of an infringer who will copy your invention as soon as it’s launched

• You might be seeking investment, or have an exit plan which would benefit from a granted patent

• You might be looking to licence the patent, and granted ones typically command higher licence royalties

• You might want to take advantage of the UK’s Patent Box scheme to reduce your corporation tax, which you can only do with a granted patent

We have accelerated patents for many clients. In some cases, we’ve been getting them to grant in a matter of months.

In the UK, you can accelerate by combining the search and examination stages. You can also request that the application is published early. Requests for accelerated treatment must be justified by a good reason. We can help you justify your request for the best chance of success. We can also help you use the UK’s “green channel” for environmentally beneficial inventions.

In Europe, you can reduce the timescales to grant by compressing the process under the EPO’s PACE system. Unlike the UK, no reason is needed.

Plus, there is no official fee to pay for either the UK or Europe. However, the costs of getting your patent granted will be compressed into a shorter timeframe.

Get Patent Box tax relief quickly

The UK Patent Box is a tax incentive for developing new products and processes. It means the UK corporation tax rate on profits from patented products is reduced to 10%. That is potentially a huge reduction for companies and, in some cases, can completely offset your patent costs.

The key to accessing the Patent Box is getting a granted patent, which is where we can help. We can get patents granted quickly (in a matter of months), allowing you to access the scheme sooner rather than later.

Plus, if you’re only looking for tax relief, there is not much point in spending time and money fighting for a broad patent when we can accept something much narrower for reduced cost.

In short, we’ll understand your commercial needs and tailor our service to match them.