To maintain UK patents after grant, payment of an annual renewal fee to the patent office is required. If these payments are missed, then the rights embodied in the patent are lost.

Where a patent has ceased to have effect due to non-payment of an annual renewal fee, restoration can be applied for under section 28 of the UK Patents Acts.

For more information about how a patent can be restored once it has lapsed, please download our white paper using the link below, or contact us to speak with one of our Chartered and European patent attorneys.