The new patent law will come into force in a few months’ time. If you currently have a pending patent application with us, please note that you can still request an advance invoice for the examination fee until 30 September 2026 (see our newsletter of 28 April 2026 in German or in French). If you pay the fee on time, we’ll complete our examination of the application in accordance with the law currently in force. This will not affect the timing of the substantive examination.

 

In a hurry? You can still request an accelerated substantive examination and receive the invoice early as a result. To ensure that the substantive examination is carried out in accordance with current law in such cases, both the supplementary fee for the acceleration and, subsequently, the examination fee must be paid before 1 January 2027.

 

FAQs on the transitional provisions