What if I miss a patent annuity deadline?

If you miss a patent annuity deadline, it can have significant consequences for your intellectual property rights. Patent annuities are periodic maintenance fees that must be paid to keep a patent in force. Failure to pay these fees on time can result in the abandonment of your patent, which means that your exclusive rights to the invention will be lost. However, in many countries, there are still some alternative ways to keep your patent in force.

Renewal fees, rules, regulations, deadlines, and payment methods are different in each country. However, almost everywhere in Europe, there is an additional period of 6 months after the deadline to pay the renewal fees with a surcharge.

If you miss the annuity payment in the grace period, in most countries, your only chance is to restore your patent. Patent restoration refers to the legal process by which a patent that has lapsed or expired can be revived and restored back to its original validity. This mechanism provides inventors or patent holders with an opportunity to reinstate their rights if certain conditions have led to the unintentional abandonment or non-payment of maintenance fees. Patent restoration typically involves a thorough examination by the patent office to determine the circumstances surrounding the lapse and the applicant's compliance with applicable reinstatement requirements. If successful, the restored patent allows the inventor to regain exclusive rights to their invention, ensuring that their hard work and innovation receive the appropriate legal protection once again.

In Hungary and in several other European countries there is a further possibility to restore your patent protection if you ask for a restitutio in integrum in due time.:

(1) In patent matters, a request for restitutio in integrum may be submitted within two months of the unobserved date or on the last day of the unobserved time limit, if the failure occurred through no fault of the party. The request must render probable the grounds of failing to comply and that the failure occurred without fault.

(2) Where the failure to comply became known to the party subsequently or the cause thereof was removed subsequently, the time limit shall be reckoned from the date on which the failure to comply became known or the cause thereof was removed. The request for restitutio in integrum shall only be admissible within twelve months of the date not complied with or the last day of the time limit not complied with.

Lapsed patents are frequently reinstated when it can be demonstrated that diligent efforts were made to fulfil the renewal fee deadline. As maintenance fees are often part of the budget of the Intellectual Property Office, it is not in the Office’s interest to refuse such requests. While there is no guarantee that this reinstatement will be granted, it is always worth to try this option.