Save on the cost of trademark renewals today!

Trademark renewal is an essential part of maintaining your business value proposition.

Don't overpay or be tempted by headline rates that hide additional fees and mark up currency rates.

Find out how much it costs to renew a trademark and pay the correct fees.

How to save today with fast and affordable trademark renewals

Trademark renewal is becoming a more important topic as businesses and law firms take on a growing number of international trademark registrations. The burden of renewing trademarks becomes more intense with larger portfolios and rapidly changing regulations globally. For a smaller firm saving a few thousand dollars annually could be crucial to investing in the business and for a growing law firm savings can enhance margin and allow new service offerings.

“Many firms use low headline rates to tempt

you and pack the fees with markups on office

fees and currency exchange. “

Many firms choose to delegate their trademark renewals to a trusted law firm or larger organizations have built up a team in-house to manage their intellectual property. Why is it important to look at the cost of renewals? Many firms use low headline rates to tempt you and pack the fees with markups on office fees and currency exchange. Getting transparency on the composition of fees will allow you to compare trademark renewal costs effectively and get the best deal on what is essentially a commodity. For registering your trademark you will want specialist advice on using the IR system or EU trademark etc. but for renewals the motto is simple; find a provider with transparent fees who is easy to work with. This will save you time, money and most importantly headaches.

Trademark renewal costs were not of primary consideration to begin with however we now see various options for trademark owners and law firms to minimise the cost and hassle of maintaining trademark portfolios. Best practice is to evaluate these options as an IP owner or IP professional and choose the right fit for you and your firm. From flat fee options, full service options or in-house routines, we will go in depth on the advantages and drawbacks of each one and help you evaluate each route to renewal.

What mistakes to avoid when choosing how to renew your trademarks

Headline trademark renewal service fees can be tempting to use for a simple comparison but trademark renewal costs are made up of several components and by knowing these you will be able to avoid overpaying and ensure that the overall cost of renewing your trademarks is optimized.

Trademark renewal fees are made up of a basic 3 components:

1. Patent and Trademark office charges

2. Law firm charges in each country where the trademark is being renewed

3. A service charge from a service provider or law firm if you are getting outside help

In addition to these 3 basic components there may be a variety of additional fees, either fixed or hourly rate depending on how you renew. Generally these result from interactions with local law firms in the country of registration. The PTO fees are fairly predictable. You want to avoid these types of additional fees as much as possible. There may be charges for simple or complex office actions which result from an incomplete submission or clarification requirements. These fees may or may not be included in your providers charges. Some countries have annuity charges as well and others have proof of use requirements, which you or your provider may need to submit and you may be charged for. The courier process for sending renewal certificates may also incur charges.

Generally for renewals you want to see out a flat fee, covering all foreseeable work and only pay additional charges in exceptional cases. As you can see there are plenty of opportunities for providers to charge extra so it is essential to clarify these topics upfront.

What questions to ask when evaluating options

The first question is really to consider whether to take on the renewal process yourself and interact with the necessary law firms in each country to renew your trademark. A big factor here is time. How much time do you or your staff want to spend on this task. In general there is no value add from doing a renewal yourself. This process does not benefit from in-house knowledge. It is a purely administrative task. The goal is to get it done reliably and without excess cost. The more registrations you have and the larger the variety of countries, the more time consuming the task is. The cost of staff time should be considered as well as the risk involved if something goes wrong.

“How much time do you or your staff want

to spend on this task. In general there is

no value add from doing a renewal

yourself.”

If you decide like most law firms and corporates to use an outside firm to help you, then you would consider what type of firm is the right fit for you. A large corporation renewing hundreds or thousands of trademarks annually will receive great service and prices from large providers but a smaller corporation or law firm may not be able to benefit from these so called legal process outsourcers or service providers. Many small to medium corporations turn to their trusted law firm to look after their renewal and the law firm can choose to process these themselves or in many cases will outsource this task to the LPO service provider, using the volume to achieve some benefit.

Larger providers are unlikely to be a good

fit for smaller firms as they reserve their

best service for global corporations and

multinational law firms.

In my experience the most important factor when choosing between renewal options is the service factor. It is very easy to waste hours or days on a billing issue or trying to get an update from a large provider with their operations offshore in a low cost center. It is critical to have direct contact with the operational center to avoid communications issues. For smaller firms it may be wise to choose a provider who values your business and will provide the service contact and pricing advantages that you should get. Larger providers are unlikely to be a good fit for smaller firms as they reserve their best service for global corporations and multinational law firms.

If you want to discuss your trademark renewal options for law firms or corporations please contact IP Custodian with no obligation. We will show you what you should be paying.