LAST REVIEWED: OCTOBER 2026
By Dr Ritchie Lewis Daniel, Chartered Patent Attorney and European Patent Attorney
Professional fees for drafting a UK patent application usually run to several thousand pounds. The fee depends on the invention, the technical detail and the alternatives the application needs to cover.
UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) fees are modest by comparison. As at October 2026, the standard online fees are £75 for filing when paid on filing, £200 for a UK search and £130 for substantive examination: £405 in total before any excess claim or excess page fees.
The useful question is what protection the expenditure could provide for your business.
Short on time?
For a first UK patent application, consider these four points:
- Professional fees: Drafting usually costs several thousand pounds. The invention, technical detail and alternatives affect the work required.
- UKIPO fees: Standard online filing, search and examination fees total £405 before any excess claim or page charges. Professional fees are separate.
- Commercial value: Consider how useful the protection could be, how readily competitors could work around the claims and whether use of the invention could be detected.
- Future costs: Budget beyond the first filing for examination, overseas filing decisions and renewals.
Why does patent drafting cost several thousand pounds?
Most of the work is not completing UKIPO filing formalities. The challenge is identifying the invention and drafting an application broad enough to be commercially useful, while preserving narrower options that may be needed later.
The number of embodiments, or different ways of putting the invention into practice, matters. Several meaningful variations usually require more work than one focused solution. Those alternatives need to be described properly if they may become important during examination or later product development.
The technology matters too. Some technologies can require more drafting effort than others, but the individual invention usually matters far more than the technical field.
There is also a difference between protecting one focused inventive concept and describing a product containing several potentially protectable features. The right approach depends on the commercial objective. Some businesses need protection around one core invention. Others need a filing strategy that supports a broader product roadmap.
What are the current UKIPO fees?
For a standard UK application filed online, the principal UKIPO fees as at October 2026 are:
| Stage | UKIPO fee |
|---|---|
| Online application fee, paid on filing | £75 |
| Online search fee for a UK application | £200 |
| Online substantive examination fee | £130 |
| Standard total | £405 |
The £405 combines the standard filing, search and examination fees. Payment timing depends on the filing route and when search and examination are requested.
Additional official fees can apply, including fees for claims above the standard allowance and longer descriptions. Professional fees are separate from the UKIPO charges. Check the current UKIPO patent application fees on GOV.UK.
Can I file a UK patent application myself?
Yes. An inventor or business can file a UK patent application without using a patent attorney. The question is not simply whether a filing date can be obtained. The more important question is whether the application provides a useful foundation for the patent rights the business hopes to obtain.
A patent application fixes the technical disclosure available at the filing date. Drafting decisions made at the outset can therefore affect the options available during examination and as the product develops.
If you are considering AI to help prepare an application, see using AI to draft a patent application for the opportunities, review work and confidentiality questions.
When is the patent expenditure worth the money?
Patent expenditure makes more sense when considered against potential value. A patent application costing several thousand pounds may represent good value where the invention underpins an important product, covers a family of products, supports a significant market or makes life genuinely difficult for competitors.
I tend to ask:
- How broad is the invention compared with what has gone before?
- How difficult would the invention be to design around?
- Would a design-around force a competitor towards an inferior product?
- Can use of the invention be detected in a competitor's product or process?
- How long is the technology likely to remain commercially relevant?
- How widely could the invention be commercialised?
Detectability is particularly important. A patent can look strong on paper, but practical enforcement becomes much harder where nobody can tell whether a competitor is using the patented invention. For some inventions that are difficult to detect and can remain confidential, trade-secret protection may deserve serious consideration instead.
When might filing be too early?
Filing a patent application starts a clock. Deadlines and further expenditure follow, and the application will normally publish around 18 months from the earliest filing or priority date. Starting that process too early can create problems where the technology is still changing quickly.
Product development can completely change the invention. Manufacturing work may reveal that the original solution is impractical, or further engineering may move the product towards a different solution. An early patent application can then describe yesterday's invention rather than the technology that reaches the market.
New technical matter cannot simply be added to the original application while keeping the original filing date for that new material. Further filings may therefore become necessary as the product develops.
Publication deserves thought as well. A published patent application gives competitors a detailed view of the technology. An application that describes alternative embodiments without securing useful protection for those alternatives can also help competitors understand possible design-arounds.
Waiting has risks of its own. Public disclosure before filing can seriously damage patentability. Discussions with contractors, partners, investors or customers also need appropriate confidentiality and IP arrangements. The sensible filing date therefore depends on balancing technology maturity against disclosure risk. See also when a startup should file a patent application.
How should a business prioritise a limited patent budget?
From my time working in-house, one lesson was clear: patent decisions compete for a finite budget. The most technically interesting invention does not automatically deserve the highest priority. A consistent assessment helps a business decide where patent expenditure is most likely to create value. RIDAN IP also supports businesses with IP strategy and portfolio decisions.
Relevant factors can include the importance of the technology to the business, the breadth of protection potentially available, the number of products or projects covered, technology maturity, product-launch timing and approaching disclosure. Discussions with external contractors or a forthcoming trade fair can move one invention up the filing queue because the disclosure risk has changed.
A broad invention may also justify an early filing before every commercial application is known. Sometimes the value lies in staking out a useful area of technology before competitors do, provided the application genuinely supports the protection being sought.
What costs come after filing?
The initial drafting fee is relatively knowable. The lifetime cost of a patent is less predictable.
Patent offices commonly raise objections during examination, so professional fees can arise when responding to search and examination reports. The amount depends on the prior art, the objections raised and the amendments or arguments required.
International protection changes the budget again. Different patent offices charge different official fees, local professional representation may be required and translation costs can arise.
Renewal fees also vary between territories and commonly increase as a patent gets older. In the UK, annual renewal fees currently rise from £90 for the fifth year to £810 for the twentieth year. Current UK renewal fees are published on GOV.UK.
So what should a business budget for?
Before instructing a first application, ask for a clear scope and estimate covering:
- The professional work included, such as drafting, drawings and filing.
- The official fees to be paid and when they fall due.
- Whether VAT is included or additional.
- Later work that will need a separate estimate, including responses to patent-office objections and overseas filings.
Decide what the first application should protect, which later territories may matter and what future expenditure the commercial opportunity can justify.
A cheap patent application is not automatically good value. An expensive application is not automatically poor value either. The objective is to spend proportionately on protection that has a realistic prospect of helping the business.
RIDAN IP provides UK and European patent drafting, filing and prosecution support for technology-led businesses. Before substantive drafting begins, the scope of the work and likely professional fees can be discussed alongside the commercial objective for the application.
General information only. This article provides general information rather than advice on any particular circumstances. UKIPO fees stated above are those applicable in October 2026 and may change. Patent costs depend on the work required, the course of prosecution and the territories in which protection is pursued.