UK IPO to increase its fees

Tom Griffin, Solicitor

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has recently announced that, subject to parliamentary approval, it is increasing its fees for patents, trade marks, and designs from 1 April 2026.

The IPO’s fees have not increased since 2018 for patents, 2016 for designs, and 1998 for trade marks. However, to take account of inflation and future cost pressures, fees will increase by an average of 25%.

For customers, this means that, for example, a standard online trade mark application (for one class) will increase from £170 to £205, whilst a patent search will increase from £150 to £200.

The IPO’s current fees will remain the same until 31 March 2026. Therefore, we recommend that businesses take proactive steps to mitigate the impact of the proposed fee increases. This may mean, for example, bringing forward a proposed trade mark application and/or amending costs budgets and forecasts to take account of the increased fees.

If you require any intellectual property assistance, please contact a member of our Intellectual Property Department on 0161 832 3434.