After you apply
After you apply, we:
- check your application meets our requirements
- send you a receipt with your application number and filing date, this is the date we receive your application
- Carry out a security check
- tell you what you need to do and when.
You must send us claims, abstract, application fee and search fee within 12 months of your filing date, or priority date.
Request search
You must request a search within 12 months of your filing or priority date.
We check your application against published patents and documents to check your invention is new and inventive.
Publishing your application
If your application meets our requirements, we publish it just after 18 months from your filing or priority date.
Request substantive examination
You must request substantive examination within 6 months of publication.
We will examine your application and tell you if it meets our requirements. If it does not we will tell you what you need to do and how long you have to do it.
This can continue, for up to 4½ years from your filing or priority date.
Various methods of accelerating the examination procedure are available, one of which is the Patent Prosecution Highway.
Granting a patent
When your application meets our requirements, we grant your patent, publish it in its final form and send you a certificate.
Changing and renewing your patent
After your patent has been granted, you may want to change the details we hold about it and you will need to renew it regularly to keep it in force.
Time limits
A typical patent application takes 2 to 3 years to grant, we can accelerate the procedure at the applicant’s request. There is a maximum time limit of 4½ years from the applicant’s earliest date.
You must meet requirements within the given time limits, or your application may be terminated. However, you can extend some time limits.
If your invention is pharmaceutical or a plant protection product, you may be able to extend your patent protection with a supplementary protection certificate (SPC).