IP Renewals: The Tiny Mistake That Can Cost Millions

By Andrew Rapacke, Managing Partner, Registered Patent Attorney

In June 2025, pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk revealed it had permanently lost Canadian patent protection for semaglutide (the blockbuster drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy) after failing to pay a routine C$250 (~$180 USD) maintenance fee. The mistake cannot be undone. Generic competitors like Sandoz immediately filed for regulatory approval, opening the Canadian market to competition years ahead of schedule. The financial impact? Hundreds of millions in lost revenue from a patent that should have remained active until 2032.

This wasn’t a complex legal misstep or an unavoidable regulatory change. It was a missed renewal deadline: the kind of administrative oversight that destroys IP portfolios worth billions.

Managing patent rights, especially for tech innovations in AI, software, and SaaS, is a strategic process that spans the entire intellectual property lifecycle. Strategic maintenance throughout this lifecycle is essential to ensure ongoing protection and value from your intellectual property assets.

IP renewals require ongoing maintenance through periodic fee payments to patent, trademark, and design offices worldwide. Renewals are required to maintain patent protection. Miss these payments, and your exclusive rights expire permanently, regardless of how valuable the underlying innovation or brand might be. Missing a patent renewal deadline can result in the patent lapsing, and failure to renew a patent on time can lead to loss of protection. The initial registration gets you in the door; renewals keep you there for the full term of protection.

What Makes IP Renewals So Critical

The business consequences of lapsed renewals extend far beyond the missed fee itself:

Immediate loss of exclusivity. Once a patent lapses into the public domain or a trademark registration is cancelled, competitors can freely copy your technology or use your brand. Globally, only about 17% of patents are maintained for their full 20-year term, but that figure includes both strategic abandonments and costly mistakes.

Licensing revenue disappears. When the underlying IP right expires, license agreements typically terminate. Your royalty stream ends immediately, and licensees gain free access to what they previously paid to use.

Reinstatement is uncertain and expensive. Some jurisdictions offer restoration procedures, but they require demonstrating strict legal standards (such as “all due care” at the European Patent Office), entail substantial legal fees, and provide no guarantee of success. Many offices offer no reinstatement.

Portfolio gaps can’t be filled. In Canada’s regulatory framework, once a patent lapses, “it cannot be revived,” as officials stated in the Novo Nordisk case. The protection is simply gone.

Consider the jurisdictional complexity: a European patent validated in Germany, France, and the UK requires separate annual annuities for each national office, starting in year three. An EU trademark registered in 2024 requires renewal in 2034, then in 2044, and thereafter indefinitely. Iconic brands like Coca-Cola have maintained trademark registrations dating back to the 1890s by never missing a renewal cycle. A US design patent granted in 2024 simply expires in 2039 with no renewal option.

The USPTO, European Patent Office (EPO), EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), China’s CNIPA, and WIPO operate under different deadlines, grace periods, and fee structures. By 2025, the U.S. trademark register alone contained more than 3.6 million active registrations, each requiring ongoing maintenance to remain in force.

Patent Renewals and Annuities: The 20-Year Commitment

Patent annuities are periodic fees required to keep patents in force. In most jurisdictions, these payments begin a few years after filing and continue at regular intervals until the patent expires or is intentionally abandoned. The renewal frequency, or how often these payments must be made, varies by jurisdiction: some countries require annual fees, while others use tiered renewal periods.

Duration and Maximum Term

Most utility patents last up to 20 years from the earliest effective filing date:

• European Patent Convention (EPC): 20 years from filing date.
• United States: 20 years from the earliest non-provisional filing date, subject to potential patent term adjustments for USPTO delays.
• Utility models (available in Germany, China, and other jurisdictions): typically 6–10 years, with different renewal requirements.

Maintaining a patent for its full term is a strategic choice, not an obligation. Even in the U.S., which has a relatively lenient fee schedule, approximately 40–50% of patents expire before year 20 because owners elect not to pay further maintenance fees. The maximum potential life is 20 years, but the effective life is often much shorter due to business decisions and cost considerations.

Renewal Payment Schedules by Jurisdiction

The frequency and structure of patent renewal payments vary significantly:

Jurisdiction	Renewal Schedule	Key Details
EPO (during prosecution)	Annual from year 3	Paid to EPO until grant (covers years 3+ while application is pending). After the grant, the fees are transferred to each designated national office.
Germany, France, UK	Annual after grant	Paid to national offices starting with the 3rd year from filing (for European patents, covering the same years already paid at EPO).
United States	3 maintenance fees after the grant	Due at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years after the grant, with a 6-month window for each payment. No fees in other years.
China (CNIPA)	Annual from year 1	Paid every year starting one year after filing. Fees increase over time.
Japan	Annual from year 4	Fees increase significantly in later years. Japan often allows payment in multi-year blocks for convenience.

Some countries follow unique patterns. Canada requires annual fees starting 2 years after filing, while Australia uses a schedule of payments due at years 4, 8, 12, and 16 post-grant.

Managing annuity payments is crucial to ensuring accurate, timely patent renewals across jurisdictions, especially when managing large portfolios with varying schedules.

Terminology note: You’ll encounter different terms for the same concept: annuity (standard in Europe), maintenance fee (preferred in the US), and renewal fee (general term). All three mean paying to maintain a patent.

Small Entity Fee Reductions in the United States

Under the Unleashing American Innovators Act (2022), qualifying small entities (companies with fewer than 500 employees) receive a 60% discount on most USPTO fees, while micro entities (very small filers or individuals meeting specific income and filing limits) get an 80% discount.

These reductions also apply to maintenance fees. For example, a large entity paying $4,000 in maintenance fees would pay only $1,600 as a small entity or $800 as a micro entity. This policy helps startups and universities afford long-term patent protection. No such discount exists at the European Patent Office or most other jurisdictions, making the U.S. somewhat unique in this regard.

Why Patent Fees Escalate Sharply Over Time

Patent office renewal fees typically increase dramatically toward the end of the patent’s term. This fee escalation is by design: it encourages patent holders to prune low-value patents from their portfolio rather than paying ever-higher costs for rights with diminishing commercial relevance.

Real-world fee progression:

• Germany: Annual fees start at €70 in year 3 but reach €2,030 by year 20
• United Kingdom: Fees begin around £70 in year 5 and climb to over £600 by year 20
• United States: Large-entity maintenance fees are $2,150 at 3.5 years, $4,040 at 7.5 years, and $8,280 at 11.5 years (2025 rates). Once the final 11.5-year fee is paid, no further payments are due.

The escalation also reflects patent office funding models. Maintenance fee payments account for approximately 40-50% of all USPTO patent fee revenue, effectively subsidizing the examination of new applications.

By year 10 of a patent’s life, typically only about one-third of European patents are still in force. At the USPTO, roughly 50% of patents survive past the 12-year maintenance window, but only about 40% make it through the final 20th year. The rest are abandoned, often to avoid the highest fees in years 15–20.

Sample 20-Year Timeline

Consider a patent filed in 2024 with no priority claims:

• 2024: Filing date; the 20-year clock starts running.
• 2027: First annuity due (year 3) in jurisdictions like Europe, or the first USPTO maintenance fee at 3.5 years after grant if granted by then.
• 2028–2043: Annual payments each year to maintain the patent in force (in jurisdictions with yearly fees). In the US, payments fall due around 2030, 2034, and 2038 instead.
• 2044: Patent expires after full 20-year term (assuming all renewals paid). No further fees: protection ends.

For a patent family validated in 10 countries, this represents 170+ individual renewal transactions during the patent’s life. In practice, many patents are intentionally abandoned well before that point (often after 10–15 years) to reduce costs when they no longer provide significant strategic value.

Reality check: Not every patent deserves 20 years of fees. Successful IP management means focusing resources on patents that justify the cost: core innovations, patents protecting commercially successful products, or those generating significant licensing income. For tech startups with AI or SaaS innovations, strategic renewal decisions should align with product roadmaps and funding timelines. The renewal timeline is both a legal schedule and a strategic roadmap that should align with your business strategy.

Trademark Renewals: Indefinite Protection Requires Indefinite Maintenance

Trademarks protect distinctive signs that identify goods or services, such as brand names, logos, and slogans. Unlike patents, trademarks can be renewed indefinitely as long as you continue to use the mark and pay renewal fees.

Standard Renewal Cycles

Trademarks typically have an initial registration term of 10 years from registration, renewable every 10 years indefinitely:

• EUIPO (European Union trademarks): 10-year term from registration, renewable every 10 years indefinitely. An EU trademark registered in 2024 will be up for renewal in 2034, then 2044, and so on.
• UKIPO (United Kingdom): 10-year terms, renewable indefinitely in 10-year increments
• USPTO (United States): 10-year terms from registration, but with additional requirements. A Declaration of Continuing Use (Section 8 affidavit) must be filed between years 5 and 6 after registration, and then every 10 years, a combined use declaration and renewal (Sections 8 & 9) is due.

The critical difference from patents: trademarks can last forever if properly maintained. Coca-Cola’s script logo trademark, first registered in 1893, is still active today through diligent renewals and continued use. This makes trademarks unique IP assets with potentially perpetual value.

Use Requirements Cannot Be Ignored.

Trademark offices impose use requirements to prevent owners from hoarding marks they don’t actually use. In the US, you must periodically attest that the mark is in use on the goods/services listed in your registration, or the registration will be cancelled for “non-use.”

Typical timeline for a U.S. trademark registered in 2024:

• 2024: Registration issued (protection good through 2034 if use is maintained).
• 2029–2030: File Section 8 Declaration of Use (5th-6th year window).
• 2034: File combined Section 8 Declaration and Section 9 Renewal to extend for another 10 years.
• Repeat every 10 years: As long as filings are made and the mark remains in use, the registration stays alive indefinitely.

Many other countries also require proof of use at renewal or have use-based cancellation procedures. China and many Latin American countries require use declarations at renewal. At the same time, the EUIPO and China allow third parties to challenge marks that haven’t been genuinely used for continuous periods (5 years for EUIPO, 3 years for China).

Critical point: Paying the invoice isn’t enough; the paperwork must be in order. Missing a Declaration of Use filing, even if you paid the fee, results in cancellation.

Design Renewals: Capped Protection Terms

Design protection (called industrial designs or registered designs outside the US) usually has a capped maximum term but allows several renewals:

Jurisdiction	Maximum Term	Renewal Structure
EU (EUIPO)	25 years	Initial 5-year registration, renewable in 5-year increments four more times (5+5+5+5+5)
UK Registered Designs	25 years	Similar to the EU, it is renewed every 5 years
Japan	20 years	No renewals beyond that term
China	15 years	Recently increased from 10 years; typically granted for an initial term and one renewal
US Design Patents	15 years from the grant	No renewal or extension (fixed term with no maintenance fees)

Design rights thus behave more like patents, with a fixed lifespan. You pay maintenance fees (if required) to reach the maximum term, but the design eventually expires and enters the public domain.

Example: An EU-registered design filed in 2024 could be renewed in 2029, 2034, 2039, and 2044, reaching its 25-year term in 2049. After that, anyone can legally copy the design.

In practice, many companies don’t renew designs for the full term unless the product’s appearance remains commercially essential. Design trends change, and a product design from 20 years ago may no longer be sold, making renewals a strategic business decision.

What Happens When You Miss a Renewal Deadline

Renewal deadlines are calculated to the day in accordance with each patent office’s rules. In some cases, even time zones matter for electronic filings on the due date. Missing a deadline triggers serious, often irreversible consequences.

Immediate Consequences

When you miss a renewal payment deadline:

Patents: The patent lapses and becomes unenforceable on the due date (or at the end of the grace period, if one applies). The lapse is typically recorded in the public patent register. Once lapsed, anyone can use the formerly patented invention without infringement, unless and until the patent is reinstated (if reinstatement is even allowed).

Trademarks: Registration has been cancelled or has expired. In most jurisdictions, there is no way to get it back once it’s gone (short of re-filing and going through the registration process again, during which time someone else might register it). The mark becomes available for others to register, and you lose the legal presumptions and protections that registration provides.

Designs: Protection ends. The design is in the public domain, meaning competitors can legally copy your product’s appearance.

These consequences are public and often irreversible. Competitors, generic manufacturers, and potential infringers actively monitor IP registers for lapsed rights in their industry. Pharmaceutical generic firms monitor patent expirations for major drugs; importers watch trademark databases and may quickly file applications for lapsed brand names.

Grace Periods Offer Limited Relief

Many offices offer a short grace period after the deadline during which you can still renew by paying an additional surcharge:

Office	Grace Period	Surcharge Details
European Patent Office	6 months	50% surcharge on the renewal fee
Germany	6 months	€50 flat late fee if paid in months 3–6 after due date
USPTO	6 months	$540 surcharge (large entity, as of 2025) plus required formal statement that the delay was unintentional
China (CNIPA)	6 months	Surcharges apply (percentage of fee or set additional amount)
Japan	6 months	Surcharge required for pre-existing intellectual property.

For trademarks, many countries have no grace period: the renewal must be filed by the deadline, or the registration is cancelled the next day. Some, such as the EUIPO, allow a 6-month late renewal upon payment of an additional fee (25% of the basic fee). The UK allows a 6-month late renewal, subject to an additional fee.

Significant limitations: Even if the law allows a 6-month late renewal, the IP might be in limbo during that period. For patents, a lapsed patent in its grace period may still be technically renewable, but third parties may be making business decisions based on the assumption it has lapsed. In some European jurisdictions, if a third party starts using the invention during the grace period, they may get a defense to infringement if the patent is later restored.

Surcharges can also be substantial. Late fees can be 50–100% of the base renewal fee, effectively doubling the cost if you miss the deadline.

Reinstatement After Full Lapse: Costly and Uncertain

Suppose you miss both the original deadline and the grace period, the IP right lapses or expires. Reinstatement at that point is sometimes possible, but it’s costly, uncertain, and not offered in all jurisdictions:

EPO (Patents): Offers a “request for re-establishment of rights” if a patent was lost due to non-payment. The standard requires you to prove that you took “all due care” to meet deadlines and that the missed deadline was despite that care. This is a very high bar: essentially, you must show that a usually competent patentee could not have avoided the error. The request must be filed within 12 months of the missed deadline and includes a substantial fee. Re-establishment is by no means guaranteed.

USPTO (Patents): Allows revival of an abandoned patent (or application) for non-payment if the delay was “unintentional” (a slightly easier standard than “due care”). In practice, the USPTO is relatively liberal in accepting petitions for unintentional delay, but you must submit a petition explaining the situation and pay a fee (several hundred dollars). If a patent lapsed and you claim it was unintentional, there can be legal implications. If it later emerges that it was deliberately filed to avoid fees, the patent may be deemed unenforceable for inequitable conduct. For complex situations, it may be helpful to consult a registered patent attorney for guidance.

UKIPO (Patents): Allows restoration within 13 months of lapse, but you must demonstrate unintentional non-compliance. The UK process involves a statement of why the miss occurred and payment of all back fees and surcharges.

China: Generally does not allow patent restoration after the 6-month grace period; once the grace period lapses, the patent is final. For trademarks, China has no grace: if you miss the deadline, the mark is cancelled, though a new application is possible with no special priority.

Other countries: Many have no reinstatement at all for patents (e.g., Canada has a 12-month late fee period, but beyond that, no revival). Some have unique provisions (e.g., India allows the restoration of patents within 18 months of lapse if proven to be unintentional).

Reinstatement proceedings invariably come with high costs and uncertainty. You’ll often need local attorneys to handle filings and, potentially, court proceedings, and there’s no guarantee of success. At the EPO, the “all due care” standard is so strict that if your internal docketing person was on vacation and the backup person forgot the fee, that’s usually not enough excuse: the EPO expects robust systems in place.

Real-World Scenario: The Cascade of Complications

Imagine missing a 2028 renewal for a key patent family covering your main product, with validations in 8 European countries plus the US, China, and Japan. You could face:

• 11 separate restoration petitions (each country with its own rules, filings, and attorney fees).
• Different legal standards: proving due care in Europe, unintentional delay in the US.
• Official fees for each petition (which can exceed $1,000).
• During periods of uncertainty, competitors might launch copycat products in countries where the patent has lapsed, arguing that it’s free to use.
• Even if you restore some patents, others may be irretrievable, resulting in patchy protection.

As the Novo Nordisk case demonstrated, once a patent has lapsed in certain jurisdictions, regulators explicitly state, “Once a patent has lapsed, it cannot be revived.” Generic competitors rushed to file for approval as soon as they learned of the lapse.

The clear lesson: Prevention is far better than a cure. It is almost always impossible or at least costly to fix a lapsed IP right. Managing patent and trademark renewals with robust systems, multiple reminders, and fail-safes is essential. The cost of a professional renewal service or good docketing software is trivial compared to the value of a critical patent or the legal fees of fighting a restoration case.

How Centralized IP Renewal Services Work

Modern IP renewal providers offer a comprehensive renewals service, acting as a single hub between IP owners, local agents, and official IP offices worldwide. These providers manage the entire IP renewal process, delivering a fully automated solution that reduces clients’ administrative burden. 

Many firms and corporate legal teams choose to delegate IP renewals to reduce administrative burdens, finding this approach more efficient than relying solely on IP law firms for routine tasks. Instead of managing dozens of relationships and deadlines with law firms and agents across various countries, you work with one expert team (often supported by a user-friendly platform with seamless integration and an online portal) that handles renewals for you. Clients can access their key renewal tasks 24/7 from anywhere, ensuring effortless IP renewals.

At RLG, we provide strategic renewal guidance as part of our comprehensive IP portfolio management, helping tech startups and established firms make data-driven decisions about which patents to maintain for maximum business value.

Typical Service Workflow

1. Data collection: The provider gathers all your IP data: patent/trademark application or registration numbers, grant dates, renewal due dates, current status, and owner details. This can come from your internal records or from a transfer from your current docketing system or provider. Some providers interface directly with your law firms or patent office databases to pull this information.

2. Data verification: Your portfolio data is cross-checked against official registers (EPO, USPTO, EUIPO, WIPO, national databases) to ensure accuracy. Discrepancies (e.g., a patent status that shows lapsed in an office database but was marked active in your spreadsheet) are flagged and resolved upfront.

3. Calendar creation: The service builds a master calendar of all upcoming renewals, typically looking at least 1–2 years ahead. This includes the due date in each jurisdiction, the end of the grace period date, the amount owing (in local currency and your billing currency), and any special requirements.

4. Reminders and instructions: Well ahead of each deadline, the provider sends you a notification or presents tasks in a portal. For example, 3–6 months before a patent annuity is due, you’d get an email or see in your dashboard: “Patent X in Japan; annual fee due June 30, 2025; $Y amount. Do you wish to pay or abandon?” Some providers provide multiple reminders (initial notice 6 months in advance, follow-up at 3 months, final call at 1 month).

5. Client approval: You review upcoming renewals and decide which to pay. You might say “renew all” for core patents, “drop these 3 patents in smaller markets,” etc. You communicate instructions through the provider’s portal or via response to their notices.

6. Payment and filing: The provider then executes the renewals. They handle payments to each patent or trademark office, either directly if the office accepts electronic payments or through local associate agents as needed. They also handle any required paperwork (some countries require submitting a signed form or a local address; the provider/agent takes care of those formalities).

7. Confirmation: After the renewal is processed, the provider obtains official confirmation (receipt from the patent office, updated online status, etc.). They update your portfolio records to show the new “next due date” and often provide copies of official receipts or renewal certificates stored for your audit records.

Platform Features

A user-friendly renewal portal typically includes:

• Dashboard overview: A snapshot of your entire portfolio status: how many renewals are coming up in the next month/quarter, any overdue items, etc.
• Renewal calendar: Interactive list or calendar view of all upcoming deadlines, filterable by jurisdiction, IP type, product line, and responsible manager
• Cost estimations: For each upcoming renewal, the expected official fee, any service fee, and total cost in your currency. Some platforms even show multi-year cost projections.
• Instruction management: Ability to mark renewal decisions (pay or abandon) and provide instructions
• Document storage: Access to filed renewal documents, official receipts, and records of payments for compliance and auditing
• Reporting tools: Ability to export data or get reports on portfolio metrics (how much was spent on renewals this year, how many patents lapsed intentionally, etc.)

Cost Structure and Savings

Renewal providers maintain a network of local agents for countries where direct payment by foreigners isn’t allowed. However, a good provider minimizes the use of intermediaries when not needed (to cut costs). Many offices now accept online payments from anywhere, enabling more efficient solutions.

One consolidated invoice (typically monthly or quarterly) from the provider replaces dozens of individual bills from various foreign agents. This simplifies accounting and usually saves money. Renewal providers normally charge either a flat service fee per renewal or a percentage of the official fee (or a mix of both).

Because of volume and automation, their service fees tend to be lower than those of a traditional law firm for a single renewal. For example, a law firm might charge $150+ just to pay one maintenance fee (plus add a surcharge on top of the official fee). In contrast, a high-volume renewals provider might charge $50 or less for the same task, or even “no service fee” beyond a platform subscription in some models.

Companies have reported reducing the “soft costs” of renewals by 30–50% over a patent’s lifetime using dedicated providers. This aligns with advertised savings from leading services: Anaqua cites approximately 30% savings on annuity costs, and some fintech-style providers claim up to 50%.

Human Expertise Complements Automation

Despite heavy automation, human expertise remains part of the process. Good providers have IP paralegals or attorneys on staff who oversee exceptional cases and quality check the system. Examples where human oversight is vital:

• A patent under opposition or litigation might have special status where renewal requires coordination with legal strategy
• A divisional European patent application might have odd timing for the first fee if the parent’s timeline is inherited
• Name changes or ownership updates might need to be recorded along with a renewal (some offices insist the owner’s name is current at the time of renewal)
• If a payment fails or an office erroneously shows a lapse, the provider’s team will intervene to fix it with the office

Most reputable renewal firms also invest in data security and reliability measures. Given that they handle valuable IP assets, they are often certified to standards such as ISO 27001 for information security, use encryption for data in transit, and maintain backups of their reminders on multiple servers or a manual diary as a fallback.

Benefits of Using a Dedicated IP Renewal Provider

Managing renewals effectively is both a risk-management challenge and a cost-optimization opportunity. Especially for portfolios with dozens or hundreds of IP rights across multiple jurisdictions, a dedicated renewal provider can provide significant advantages.

Risk Reduction: Preventing the $200 Million Mistake

The primary benefit is preventing costly mistakes: missed deadlines that could cause a critical patent or trademark to lapse. Renewal providers specialize in building fail-safes into the process:

Automated reminders: The provider’s system issues reminders at multiple intervals (typically 6 months, 3 months, and 1 month before the deadline, plus day-of alerts). These are usually configurable to your preference. Automation ensures no deadlines are missed because someone is on vacation or a manual diary isn’t checked.

Dual-control checks: Many providers use both software and human review. For example, if a payment hasn’t been confirmed and the deadline is two weeks away, the case might be flagged for senior staff to contact the client directly. This dual-layer (machine + human) catches issues that pure automation might miss.

Real-time status tracking: Log in to the portal to view upcoming and paid renewals. Transparency means that if anything is in an “unclear” state (awaiting instructions or payment in progress), you can see it and inquire.

Disaster-proof records: A good provider maintains redundant systems so that, even in the event of IT outages or personnel changes, the renewal data remains secure. Your deadlines won’t be lost because an employee left the company or an email server went down.

Escalation protocols: If a deadline is truly imminent and the provider hasn’t received your instruction, they typically have clear escalation procedures, sending urgent notices to higher-ups or even calling to ensure you make a conscious decision. Some companies issue standing instructions, such as “if we don’t respond by X date, pay all fees by default,” to avoid accidental lapses.

Cost Savings: More Than Just Lower Fees

Using a renewals provider can save money in several ways:

Lower service fees: Renewal firms leverage economies of scale. Instead of paying a law firm in each country to handle a renewal (each adding its bill), you pay a single provider, often at a fraction of the total cost. Over a 20-year patent life across multiple countries, this adds up significantly.

Elimination of markups: If you were going through layers (firm → foreign associate → office), each layer might mark up official fees or charge handling fees. A direct-renewals provider eliminates those middlemen wherever possible.

Consolidated currency exchange: Paying offices around the world mean dealing with multiple currencies. Providers often secure better foreign exchange rates than an individual company would, and they may pool funds to minimize exchange losses. Some providers allow you to stay in one currency while they handle conversions internally, avoiding high bank wire fees for each foreign payment.

Avoiding late fees: Meeting deadlines prevents those surcharges. A single missed payment that you then scramble to pay in the grace period could incur a 50% penalty: money basically wasted.

Strategic pruning insights: Some providers offer analytics that flag patents approaching costly renewal years or trademarks that haven’t been used. By identifying these, you can decide to let some go and save on fees, turning renewal management into a cost-optimization exercise rather than just a cost center.

Maintenance fees account for approximately 50% of the USPTO’s patent fee revenue, indicating the extent to which patentees collectively spend on renewals. Any approach that reduces unnecessary maintenance spending can free up substantial budget for other IP activities.

Administrative Efficiency: Freeing Your Team for Strategic Work

Another significant benefit is freeing your team’s time and reducing administrative headaches:

Single-point billing: You receive a single monthly invoice for all processed renewals, often with an itemized breakdown. Your finance department doesn’t have to manage 50 different foreign vendor accounts and wire transfers.

Simplified workflow: Instead of your paralegal maintaining a giant spreadsheet and manually calculating fees and dates, the provider’s system does it. Your team just decides what to renew, not how to implement them.

Fewer errors on the internal side: Manually tracking deadlines in multiple time zones, currencies, and legal regimes is error-prone and stressful. Automation significantly reduces the risk of calendar misentry or missed weekends.

No need to monitor law changes: Patent offices occasionally change fee amounts or rules. A provider will update their system accordingly. If you do it in-house, someone has to track such changes in every country where you operate.

Resource reallocation: The time your in-house counsel or paralegals spent on annuities can now be redirected to higher-value tasks, such as IP strategy, drafting new patents, and handling agreements. This is especially valuable for startups and small businesses with minimal IP staff; outsourcing renewals allows them to focus on securing and leveraging IP rather than on clerical data tracking.

Strategic Portfolio Pruning

An often-overlooked advantage of centralizing renewals is better data and analytics on your IP portfolio’s maintenance. Many companies accumulate portfolios over time but lack a clear strategy for trimming deadweight. Renewal providers and their tools can highlight:

Upcoming fee spikes: “Next year, 15 of your patents will enter their 15th year, where fees jump significantly (say from $500 to $1500 each). Are all 15 still aligned with your business strategy?” This heads-up enables proactive decisions.

Geographic overlaps: You may see that you’re paying to maintain patents in 20 countries, but sales occur in only 5. After 5 years post-launch, it’s time to drop some weaker markets.

Trademarks in classes no longer used: You may have registered your brand in 10 classes a decade ago, but now you only use 3. At renewal, you might drop some classes or entire registrations to cut costs.

Redundant family members: Large companies often file multiple patents on similar tech. Over time, one patent may become the key one, and others are less needed. Rather than blindly renewing for all, the renewal review can flag that patents A, B, and C cover similar ground; you may let C lapse if A and B suffice for protection.

Licensing and revenue generators: Conversely, the system can tag patents licensed for royalties. Those you definitely want to keep. If a license agreement requires the patent to be maintained, failing to do so could breach the contract.

Transparency and Budgeting

Modern renewal services also aid in forecasting costs and budgeting for IP maintenance:

Multi-year forecasts: They can project your renewal spend for 1, 3, and 5 years out, assuming all current assets are retained. This helps you anticipate when your IP budget needs to ramp up.

Custom reporting: Need to provide management a report on “IP assets by region and next 3-year cost”? A sound system can output that in minutes.

Alignment with product timelines: You might integrate product roadmaps and tag each patent to its corresponding product. If a product is nearing the end of its life, you might see an opportunity to stop paying for some patents after that point.

Finance integration: Some providers integrate with procurement or finance systems so that renewal costs are coded by business unit or project, revealing which divisions are spending on patent maintenance.

Finally, many renewal providers guarantee their work; some offer liability or indemnification if a renewal they were responsible for is missed due to their error. While errors are sporadic, this guarantee (if offered) provides additional peace of mind that the provider stands behind their service.

Transitioning Your Portfolio to a New IP Renewal Partner

If you already manage renewals in-house or via another provider, moving to a new system can sound daunting. However, transitions are routine in the industry and can be done methodically without interrupting any coverage. The keys are data accuracy and overlap during the handover period.

Data Handover

First, you’ll need to transfer all relevant IP data to the new provider:

• A list of all patent and application numbers, trademark registration numbers, and countries.
• Key dates for each (filing, grant, expiration, next renewal due date if known)
• Current status (active, expired, pending, etc.).
• Owner/entity names (some providers manage renewals for multiple affiliates separately for accounting).
• Any special notes (e.g., “this patent is licensed, don’t let lapse without confirming with licensing dept.”).

Often, this is exported from your docketing system or from spreadsheets you have. Some companies simply give the new provider access to their existing IP management software or reports.

Alternatively, you can authorize the current renewal provider or law firm to send the portfolio data directly to the new provider. Because switching providers is common, many firms have established protocols.

Verification Steps

Once the new partner has your data, verification is the next crucial step:

• They will cross-check every patent number in official databases to confirm the next due date and fee. This might reveal surprises (perhaps a patent was abandoned unbeknownst to you, or an office shows a different next due year due to an unusual rule).
• Any discrepancies or unclear items will be flagged. For instance, if a patent was granted unusually late, the due date might differ from the standard timeline.
• They also verify statuses, ensuring an “active” patent isn’t listed as lapsed elsewhere. If a lapse is discovered, you can act immediately to correct it, if still possible.
• This process may also update your records; you might not have tracked that a particular country has no fees after year 10, and the provider will adjust that.

It’s common in transitions to find a few data errors from the previous regime; catching them before any deadline is missed is a significant value-add of thorough onboarding.

Transitional Overlap

To be safe, many companies overlap the old and new systems for a short period:

Parallel monitoring: You instruct the legacy provider to continue handling renewals until a specified cutoff date, while the new provider sets up. At the end of each month, you should double-check that all outstanding items are addressed.

No-gap rule: Explicitly decide and document “no renewal will be left uncovered.” For example, say you switch on July 1. You ensure that any amounts due in July are either paid by the old provider before June 30 or scheduled for payment by the new provider in July.

Data freeze/cutoff: On the cutoff date, you provide the new provider with a final list of in-flight items and confirm that the old provider will cease all actions thereafter.

Notification to agents/offices: In some cases, if you had given Power of Attorney to certain law firms to handle maintenance, you might need to inform those firms that you’ve switched to avoid double payments.

Typical Onboarding Elements

During the onboarding with the new provider, expect:

• Dedicated account manager: You’ll likely be assigned a representative who will serve as your point of contact, especially during the early period.
• Platform training: The provider will train your team to use the portal, including how to approve renewals and run reports.
• Workflow customization: If you have specific internal approval steps, the provider can configure such workflows.
• Reporting format: You can request custom reports or data fields in the system.

Most professional renewal services have done transitions dozens of times and have project managers to guide the process. A transition of even a thousand cases can be completed smoothly within a couple of months.

Best Practices for Managing IP Renewals Internally

Even if you use an external renewal provider, you need solid internal processes to ensure nothing is missed on your side. For companies that choose to keep part or all of their renewal management in-house, the following practices are essential. Understanding the differences between design patents and utility patents can also play a crucial role in determining proper management strategies.

Establish a Central IP Register

Maintain a single source of truth for all your active IP rights. This can be dedicated IP management software, a well-structured spreadsheet, or a database. Key elements to record for each patent/trademark/design:

• Title/brief description (so business people know what it is).
• Jurisdiction (country or region).
• Application number, grant/registration number.
• Filing, grant, and expiration dates.
• Upcoming renewal due date (and update this after each payment).
• Owner/entity name (especially if you have multiple subsidiaries holding IP).
• Status (e.g., pending, active, expired, in litigation).
• Any comments (e.g., “licensed to X Co.” or “linked to product Y”).

Update this register at least monthly, or in real-time when you receive notices. It should reflect the current state of what’s in force and what’s not.

Implement Multiple Reminder Layers

Humans forget. Emails get lost. So have redundancy in reminders:

T-minus 1 year (for patents): For long-term planning, review patents about a year before a major renewal (especially the costly ones at years 10+). Decide whether to keep it or explore selling or licensing it.

T-minus 3–6 months: This is typically when a formal reminder should kick off the decision cycle. At 6 months, compile the list of upcoming renewals for the next two quarters and get initial business input.

T-minus 1 month: Final check. If something still hasn’t been paid or decided, escalate it. At this stage, issue an internal “urgent” notice.

T-minus 1 week: (If still unpaid) Absolute last warning. It should be clear whether payment is in progress or you’ve intentionally let it go.

Using a calendar system with alerts is very helpful. Also, consider backup personnel: ensure at least 2 individuals receive each reminder, so that if one is out sick, the other still sees it.

Align Renewals with Business Strategy

Don’t renew on autopilot. Each renewal (especially for expensive patents) should be an opportunity to ask: Does this IP still align with our strategy?

Best practice is to schedule a portfolio review 1–2 years before major milestones. For example, a patent’s 10th or 15th year (when fees jump) is a good point to have R&D, product management, and legal discuss it:

• Is the underlying technology still core to any product or plan?
• Have competitors introduced alternatives that reduce its value?
• Are we enforcing or licensing it, or is it just sitting there?
• Could it be sold or donated if we don’t want it?

For trademarks: Is the brand still in use? Document these decisions so that, years later, a new manager can understand why a patent was discontinued.

Document Everything

Keep a digital paper trail for each renewal event:

• Copies of official fee payment receipts or confirmations from patent offices.
• Proof of timely submission if done online (screenshots or emails).
• Any correspondence with attorneys or agents instructing them to pay or abandon.
• Internal approvals: If the VP of R&D must approve abandoning a patent, keep the approval email.
• For trademarks, evidence of use that was submitted.

These records should be saved in a structured way, ideally linked to the IP register. If an issue arises, your proof can resolve it quickly. Or, during due diligence for an acquisition, the buyer will want to confirm that all maintenance fees have been paid.

Clear Authority and Ownership

Within your organization, define who is responsible for renewal decisions and actions:

Assign ownership: The IP Manager or Chief Patent Counsel is the ultimate owner of the renewals process. They keep the master list and ensure processes are followed.

Approval hierarchy: Determine monetary and strategic approval thresholds. For instance, any patent older than 15 years requires director-level approval to renew (due to high costs), whereas patents younger than 15 years can be renewed by a paralegal by default if no one objects.

Fallback decisions: Decide in advance what happens if a responsible person can’t be reached. One approach is a “renew by default” policy: assume you will pay unless you consciously decide to drop.

Escalation path: If a renewal is approaching and the usual approvers haven’t responded, who should be escalated to? Perhaps the General Counsel or CTO in the final week.

Document roles: If you have an IP committee, make renewals a standing agenda item. Write this down in an IP management policy.

Additionally, coordinate with finance on budgeting for renewals to avoid large payments as surprises.

Finally, even with a provider, don’t go entirely on autopilot. Keep an internal diary as a backup. Periodically cross-check provider reports against your own list. A little trust, but verify, helps ensure everything is truly running smoothly.

Frequently Asked Questions

How far in advance should I plan for IP renewals?

Ideally, plan at least 3–5 years in your renewal schedule for budgeting and strategic planning. Large companies often generate annual forecasts showing all upcoming renewal fees by quarter for the next several years. This helps avoid surprises: for example, knowing that in 2026 you have a cluster of high-cost patent renewals.

For operational management, use a rolling 12-month calendar reviewed monthly. This ensures that decisions (renew vs. abandon) are made a few months before each deadline. Early planning is especially critical if you need higher-level approval for specific actions or if you plan to license or sell a patent rather than pay a hefty fee; such transactions take time.

For more guidance on patent strategy planning, see our comprehensive guides.

Can I selectively renew only some countries in a patent family?

Yes, absolutely. This is a common cost-saving strategy. You are never obligated to maintain a patent in every country where it was granted. Many patent holders focus on key markets as their patents age.

For example, you might continue paying renewal fees in the US, Europe, Japan, and China (the largest markets) but let the patent lapse in smaller countries once initial expansion plans wane. Statistics show that while an average PCT application might enter approximately 4 countries initially, by year 10, the portfolio may be down to 2–3 countries as companies assess ROI by market.

Just be mindful: once you drop a country, you usually can’t get it back. Also, check whether any license or agreement requires maintaining coverage in certain countries; if you licensed the patent to someone in that country, you might be contractually bound to keep it in force.

What happens to licenses when a patent or trademark is not renewed?

In most cases, if the underlying IP right expires or is cancelled, any license tied to it will terminate (at least as to the now-unprotected subject matter). For patents, a license typically grants rights under “the Licensed Patents,” defined by their numbers and expiration dates. Once a patent lapses, the licensee no longer owes royalties because the exclusive rights protecting the technology no longer apply; the technology enters the public domain and becomes available to anyone to use.

Similarly, a trademark license typically requires that the mark remain valid; if the registration is lost, the licensee may be free to use the mark without payment, or the agreement may automatically terminate.

Practical tip: Coordinate renewal decisions with your licensing team. If you have a patent generating royalties, the cost of renewal is worth it to keep royalties flowing. Always review active license agreements before deciding to abandon a patent or mark. You may also have an obligation to notify licensees or get their consent before abandonment.

Do I need to renew pending applications or only granted rights?

In many jurisdictions, you must pay maintenance fees on pending patent applications and on granted patents. Notable examples:

Europe (EPO): Renewal fees start at year 3 from the filing date, even if the application is still under examination. These are essentially “holding fees” to keep the application alive. If you don’t pay, the application is deemed withdrawn.

UK, Germany, etc.: For European-origin applications, the rule is the same as the EPO during pendency. For a direct national patent application, countries like Germany require fees from the 3rd year after filing.

United States: No maintenance fees on pending applications; the USPTO charges fees only after grant (but has other fees during prosecution, such as extension-of-time and RCE fees).

China: Maintenance fees on pending applications start from the year after filing, similar to EPO (China requires payment of annuities during examination yearly).

So yes, be aware of prosecution-stage renewals. They are just as important: missing one means your application goes abandoned before it even becomes a patent.

How do currency fluctuations affect global renewal budgets?

If your portfolio spans many countries, you’re inherently exposed to currency exchange fluctuations. Patent offices require payment in local currency (euros for the EPO, yen for the JPO, yuan for the CNIPA). If your company budgets in USD, a strengthening of the euro or yen means you’ll pay more USD for the same fee.

To manage this:

• Many renewal providers offer to bill you in a single currency of your choice. They handle forex conversions for local payments, providing predictability.
• Internally, it’s wise to include a currency buffer in your budget forecast. For volatile currencies or over multi-year horizons, consider adding approximately 5-10% to the expected fees as a contingency.
• You can also prepay some renewals early if you expect a currency to appreciate. Some patent offices allow paying several years at once with a small discount for multi-year prepayment.
• Note that currency impacts can cut both ways: a strong home currency can reduce your foreign IP costs.

Many organizations track IP spending in both local currency and converted home currency to monitor this. For practical budgeting, review exchange rates periodically and adjust your forecasts.

Your Next Steps to IP Renewal Success

Managing IP renewals effectively protects the investments you’ve already made in innovation, branding, and design. Every missed deadline represents lost revenue, market share, and competitive advantage that goes far beyond the original filing costs: it can erase years of R&D advantage or brand goodwill built through consistent use and customer recognition.

The bottom line: A weak renewal strategy helps your competitors by letting valuable protection lapse. A strong renewal strategy, backed by systematic processes and expert guidance, keeps competitors at bay while protecting the IP assets that drive business value.

Don’t let administrative oversights destroy what you’ve built. In the first-to-file patent system, timing matters, and renewal deadlines are absolute. Missing one can permanently open your market to competitors actively monitoring patent registers for just such opportunities. For trademarks, the consequences can be even more immediate: your brand name could be registered by someone else before you even realize the registration has lapsed.

The RLG Guarantee for Patent Services:

• FREE strategy call with the RLG team.
• Experienced US patent attorneys lead the application from start to finish.
• One transparent, flat fee covering the entire patent application process.
• Full refund if USPTO denies patent application*.
• Full refund or additional searches if the application has patentability issues (your choice)*.

Whether you’re managing a single critical patent or a global portfolio spanning multiple jurisdictions, here’s what you need to do now:

1. Schedule a Free IP Strategy Call to audit your current renewal processes and identify gaps before they become costly mistakes, with special focus on protecting your tech innovations and AI patents.
2. Verify your current IP docket against official registers to catch any discrepancies or upcoming deadlines.
3. Map out your renewal calendar for the next 3–5 years to identify fee spikes and make strategic pruning decisions.
4. Establish clear internal protocols for renewal decisions, including approval hierarchies and backup systems.
5. Evaluate whether a centralized renewal service could reduce your risk and costs.

Professional IP portfolio management isn’t just about avoiding disasters like the Novo Nordisk case: it’s about optimizing your IP spend to focus resources on the assets that truly matter. The right renewal strategy, whether managed in-house with robust systems or outsourced to specialized providers, transforms IP maintenance from a compliance burden into a strategic advantage.

Your IP assets are only as substantial as your ability to maintain their enforceability. With the right processes, expert guidance, and strategic planning, you’ll protect your innovations and brands throughout their full value lifecycle, ensuring competitors can’t capitalize on administrative oversights.

To Your Success,

Andrew Rapacke, Managing Partner
Registered Patent Attorney
LinkedIn | Twitter/X: @rapackelaw | Instagram: @rapackelaw