EPO’s official fee increase 2026

By way of the Decision of the Administrative Council of 11 December 2025 (CA/D 9/25) (published in the January 2026 issue of The Official Journal of the EPO), most of the EPO’s official fees will increase from 1 April 2026. On average, the official fees will increase by about 5%.

There are a number of official fees that are not increasing this year, these include opposition and appeal fees, and renewal fees for Unitary Patents.

In almost all cases, official fees must be paid at the prevailing rate, and so official fees paid on or after 1 April 2026 must be paid at the new (higher) rate, where applicable. For six months after the new (higher) fees take effect (and so, until 1 October 2026), if an official fee is incorrectly paid at the old (lower) rate, it will still be considered validly paid if the deficit is paid within two months of an invitation from the EPO to do so.

If you have further questions regarding these fee changes, please get in touch with your usual Mewburn contact or email mail@mewburn.com.