Small business, big savings: EPO Microentity Discounts

In April 2024 the European Patent Office (EPO) launched a scheme offering a 30% discount on the main patent prosecution official fees to applicants meeting a defined set of ‘micro entity’ criteria.

The initiative was designed to help smaller and more inexperienced businesses with what can be challenging costs for early stage applicants in filing a European patent application. Since before the launch of this scheme, some applicants with a residence/principal place of business in a European Patent Convention (EPC) State have been able to benefit from language-related reductions on selected fees in relation to non-EPO language filings. However this newer ‘micro entity’ initiative is advantageous in offering reductions on a wider range of fees and significantly – the nationality and domicile of applicants are irrelevant to eligibility criteria, making it particularly useful for priority filings from further afield.

The discounts are relevant to direct EP national filings, as well as international applications where the EPO is a designated or elected office.

Who is eligible?

Entities must meet the definition of a ‘micro entity’ to apply for the discounts. The EPO defines the following three categories of what a micro entity is:

1. A ‘microenterprise’

          - This is defined as a company that has:

               1. less than 10 full-time persons and;

               2. a total annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet that does not exceed EUR 2 million.

2. A ‘natural person’

            - i.e. an individual.

3. A non-profit organisation, university or public research organisation.

Further Requirements

Additionally the following must be met:

• The same person must have filed less than five EP applications in the last five years:

These fee reductions are not available if five or more EP/Euro-PCT applications have been filed by the same person within the five years immediately prior to:

• EP application (in the five years prior to date of filing)
• Euro-PCT application (in the five years prior to date of entry into European phase)

An aim of this ‘filing cap’ is to support the more inexperienced users of the system, so the outcome of the previous applications is irrelevant.

If multiple persons are filing the application – each applicant must fulfil the required criteria.

What fees are reduced?

Once the eligibility criteria has been met, a 30% discount is available on the below fees:

• filing fee;
• European/Supplementary European search fee;
• examination fee*
• designation fee;
• grant fee;
• renewal fees.

For example, an examination fee of €1915.00 (correct as of 14 July 2025) would be reduced to €1340.50 euros - saving €574.50 for applicants.

*Furthermore in the case of a Euro-PCT application where the EPO acted as ISA in the international phase - then in the EP national phase, micro entities are eligible for the examination fee to be further reduced by 30% of the effective international search fee.

The risks for not meeting the eligibility criteria

Whilst a hugely useful scheme to take advantage of wherever possible, it’s important to carefully check eligibility is met before claiming – as claiming where not valid can have severe consequences on an application. However this very much depends on the scenario – examples of which are detailed below:

- Scenario A - Changes occur that mean the applicant no longer meets eligibility criteria for the discounted fees

• Before the discounted fee is claimed
• Any changes affecting eligibility criteria must be relayed to the EPO.
• After the discounted fee is claimed
• Post-fee changes in eligibility are not taken into account for the specific fee already paid. Future fees would be affected however.

- Scenario B - Discounted fee is claimed, but applicant does not meet micro entity criteria:

• The application may be deemed withdrawn as it is viewed as an underpayment i.e. not meeting the legal requirements. If this does occur, depending on the situation, it may be possible to pursue further processing or reestablishment of rights to rescue the application – but it is highly recommended to avoid this scenario by taking care to assess criteria are met in advance.

- Scenario C - Discounted fee is claimed, but applicant exceeds the filing cap limit on previous EP applications filed:

• An applicant will be given two months from the date of an invitation by the EPO to rectify the fee difference. The EPO carries out random checks while the application is still pending.
• Re: renewal fees – the usual six month grace period would apply.

Further information about these scenarios and others can be found on the EPO website here: (OJ EPO 2024, A8 – Notice from the European Patent Office dated 25 January 2024 concerning fee-related support measures for small entities).

Interested in filing an EP application? Or already filed an EP application and not claimed the discount?

If an EP application has already been filed but micro entity status eligibility wasn’t declared on filing, there may still be time to take advantage of the discounts provided by this scheme. You can still make a declaration after an application is filed and benefit from the discount on any future eligible fees that have not yet been paid - ask the attorneys at ip21 for assistance and we’ll be pleased to help.

The EPO may request evidence where there is any reasonable doubt on eligibility so applicants should be prepared to provide this. As a matter of caution and efficiency, we are recommending filing evidence with the declaration where possible.

Here at ip21, we’ve successfully claimed this discount for a number of clients already and we’ll be pleased to help with the same service on your behalf. We’d be happy to offer a competitive estimate to help you get the maximum saving on official fees wherever possible.

If you need more information on anything in this article, don’t hesitate to get in touch at [email protected] or via our contact page for more information on us and our services as UK and European patent and trade mark attorneys.

Further reading on information provided in the article above can be found in the following EPO resources:

• Am I eligible for micro-entity fee reductions? | epo.org
• Which fees are reduced? | epo.org
• eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32003H0361

Written by Rachel Daniel for ip21