Practice fees
2024 practice fees
The Legal Services Board approved IPReg's application of its proposed 2023 Practice Fee Regulations (setting out the fee levels for the 2024 practice year) on 19 October 2023. It further agreed that IPReg's application to make minor drafting changes to the way the Practice Fee Regulations are presented, can be treated as an exemption, meaning a full rule change application was not required. The approval means that practising fees for 2024 will increase by 8% across all fee paying categories, other than for attorneys who are not in active practice (those fees will remain at the 2023 level).
You can see our application, submitted on 14 September, here. On 29 September, the Legal Services Board asked a number of questions about the application. You can see those questions, together with IPReg's responses made on 5 October, here. In addition, the Legal Services Board advised that it required a full comparison of changes from IPReg's 2022 Regulations to the proposed 2023 Regulations in order to assess IPReg's application to treat the changes from the current style of drafting to the proposed new style of drafting (which better reflect IPReg's new regulatory arrangements) as an exemption to the full rule change application process. The table can be viewed here.
Further information on the process for the approval of practice fees can be found here. Practice fees for previous years are available on request.
Fees are for the year from 1 January. We do not require any additional payment (and nor do we give refunds) if your practice fee type changes during the year or if you resign from the register.
Hardship
The fee waiver application process that was introduced in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic remains in the 2023 Regulations and has now been extended to include applications on the basis of general hardship - see Regulation 4. To apply to IPReg to have your practising fees waived on the basis of hardship, please make an application via the Practice Fee Waiver Application tab of your Annual Return menu in your IPReg account. You must provide evidence of hardship such as evidence that you are in receipt of a state benefit such as Universal Credit or evidence that you do not have the funds necessary to pay your fees.
Fees 2024
The fees for an individual/body to be entered on or to remain on a single register (ie Patent or Trade Mark) or both registers (ie Patent and Trade Mark) can be found below:
|
Practice Fee Types |
|
Dual Registrant Fee |
|
Attorney solely undertaking corporate work |
£ 203.00 |
£ 324.00 |
|
Attorney in private practice |
£ 246.00 |
£ 404.00 |
|
Attorney not in active practice |
£ 171.00 |
£ 273.00 |
|
Sole trader not employing other attorneys or other professionals |
£ 404.00 |
£ 577.00 |
|
Sole trader employing others: |
|
|
|
Base Fee |
£ 404.00 |
£ 577.00 |
|
Plus for each employed registered attorney |
£ 81.00 |
£ 81.00 |
|
And each employed other professional* providing legal services |
£ 324.00 |
£ 324.00 |
|
Registered Body Fees |
For Entry on or to remain on a single register or both registers |
|
i) Registered body through which only a single attorney and no other attorneys or other professionals* provide services |
£158.00 |
|
ii) Any other registered body |
£404.00 + £81.00 for each attorney practising via the body + £324.00 for each other professional practising via the body |
* an ‘other professional’ for the purpose of the Practice Fees Rules means a manager or employee based in the UK who is: (i) not a registered attorney but holds the qualifications necessary for registration; (ii) a qualified European patent and/or trade mark attorney; (iii) a barrister of England and Wales; or (iv) a solicitor of England and Wales. This does not include paralegals, trainees, support or administrative staff unless they hold the qualifications necessary for registration.
Practice fee categories
Attorney solely undertaking corporate work means an attorney that works exclusively in industry and who does not provide any IP legal services to the public
Attorney in private practice means an attorney that works in, and is employed by, a firm or Sole Trader regulated by IPReg (or is otherwise regulated) that provides IP legal services to the public
Attorney not in active practice means an attorney not currently practising and not available to provide IP legal services
Sole Trader means an attorney that provides IP legal services under their own name as a registered attorney, and who is not employed by a regulated practice. This includes Consultants who contract with a client or firm to provide services but who are not employed by a regulated practice. Sole Traders must hold, or otherwise be named, on a policy of professional indemnity insurance (PII) with an IPReg participating insurer (or if contracting with an SRA regulated firm, an SRA participating insurer)
Sole Trader employing others means an attorney that provides IP legal services under their own name as a registered attorney, and who is not employed by or does not practise through a regulated practice. The Sole Trader employs other registered attorneys or other professionals directly. The employee of the Sole Trader employing others is considered an attorney in private practice. The above in relation to PII also applies to Sole Traders employing others
If you are unsure which fee paying category applies to you, please contact us