The calculator shows the remaining renewal fees year by year — country by country and for the Unitary Patent.
The calculator is published by Weisse, Moltmann & Willems in Velbert, Germany.
A patent law firm since 1951
After grant, a European patent becomes a bundle of national patents. It must be validated in the desired contracting states, and each of these countries then charges its own renewal fees for up to 20 years from the filing date.
As an alternative, the Unitary Patent covers 18 EU countries with one single renewal fee paid to the EPO. Which route is cheaper depends on the countries selected — this tool makes the difference visible.
After the European Patent Office grants a European patent, the patent does not automatically take effect everywhere. The proprietor must validate it in the individual contracting states in which protection is desired, within three months of the publication of the mention of grant.
Depending on the country, validation can require a translation of the claims or of the whole specification, the appointment of a local address for service and the payment of fees. From then on, the patent is maintained in each country by paying national renewal fees.
Renewal fees, also called annuities or maintenance fees, are official fees that must be paid each year to keep a patent in force. After grant of a European patent, renewal fees are payable separately to the national patent office of every country in which the patent was validated.
The amounts are set nationally, usually increase with the age of the patent and are counted in patent years starting from the filing date of the European patent application, up to the maximum term of 20 years.
In most countries the renewal fee for a given patent year falls due on the last day of the month containing the anniversary of the filing date of the application. Most offices allow payment within a grace period of six months against a surcharge.
Until the year in which the mention of grant is published, renewal fees for a European patent application are paid to the European Patent Office; after that they are paid to the national offices of the validated countries.
The European patent with unitary effect (Unitary Patent) is an option available on grant of a European patent. Instead of validating the patent country by country, the proprietor can request unitary effect for the participating EU member states and then pays one single renewal fee to the European Patent Office.
The Unitary Patent currently covers 18 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden. Countries outside the system — for example the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland or Türkiye — must still be validated nationally.
The renewal fees for a Unitary Patent are paid to the European Patent Office in a single payment per year (official fees as of 2026, in euros).
Over the full term of 20 years the fees add up to EUR 35,555 (2nd to 20th year). They were set to correspond roughly to the combined national renewal fees of the four countries in which European patents were most often validated.
The calculator compares today's date with the filing date of the European patent application. Patent year 1 starts on the filing date, so the current patent year is the number of complete years since filing plus one.
The cost curve then shows every renewal fee that has not yet fallen due, from the next open patent year up to year 20. If you enter the EP number, the filing date is retrieved automatically from the EPO Open Patent Services database.
The calculator shows the official renewal fees charged by the national patent offices — and by the European Patent Office for the Unitary Patent — from today until the end of the maximum 20-year term.
One-off validation costs such as translations or publication fees, attorney or service provider charges, and surcharges for late payment are not included. The calculation assumes that the patent is granted; renewal fees falling due before grant are paid to the European Patent Office and can differ.
The EP publication number is printed on the front page of the European patent specification, for example in a format such as EP 3 220 101 B1. It also appears on communications from the European Patent Office and in the European Patent Register.
The calculator also accepts the application number, for example 17161829.9.
If the automatic lookup through the EPO Open Patent Services is unavailable or does not return the case data, the calculator asks for the filing date of the European patent application instead. The cost overview only needs the filing date, which is shown on the front page of the patent specification and in the European Patent Register.
Some countries set their renewal fees in a national currency, for example pounds sterling, Swiss francs or Polish zloty. The calculator converts these amounts into euros at current exchange rates so that all countries can be compared on one chart — the daily euro reference rates of the European Central Bank and, for the Albanian lek, Macedonian denar and Serbian dinar, which the ECB does not publish, the monthly rates of the European Commission. The rates used are named below the chart.
Exchange rates change daily, so the converted amounts are estimates.
If a renewal fee is not paid in a country, and also not paid within the grace period, the patent lapses in that country while remaining in force in the other validated countries. Many proprietors deliberately let protection lapse in less important countries after some years to save costs.
A Unitary Patent, by contrast, can only be maintained or abandoned as a whole — one renewal fee keeps protection in force in all participating countries at once.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein form a unitary protection territory for European patents. A single validation covers both countries, and a single joint renewal fee is paid to the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. The calculator therefore treats them as one entry.
No. The visualization is an initial estimate for planning purposes based on the official fee schedules currently in force. Fee amounts and exchange rates change over time, and the actual costs depend on the individual case. The result is not legal advice.
Yes. WMW can review the selected countries against the commercial relevance of the invention, advise whether the Unitary Patent or classic national validation is the better route, and point out cost-saving options over the remaining term.
Yes. WMW monitors renewal fee deadlines and pays national renewal fees and Unitary Patent renewal fees on behalf of patent proprietors, so that no deadline is missed and protection stays in force in the desired countries.
The calculator itself does not send any data to WMW — it is a purely informational tool. If you would like WMW to review your validation strategy or handle renewal fee payments, simply get in touch via the contact link on this page; service charges then apply in addition to the official fees shown here.