Estimate official fees for PCT national phase entry in Germany and European regional phase entry before the EPO.
After entering the case data, users can contact the patent law firm Weisse, Moltmann & Willems directly to have the calculation reviewed and to instruct the firm with German or European phase entry.
A patent law firm since 1951
PCT phase entry is the stage at which an international patent application enters the national or regional procedure before the selected patent offices.
For Germany and Europe, phase entry generally has to be completed within 31 months from the priority date. It is important that the required documents are filed and the relevant official fees are paid before the deadline expires.
PCT phase entry is the stage at which an international patent application continues before selected national or regional patent offices. For this tool, the relevant options are German national phase entry before the German Patent and Trade Mark Office and European regional phase entry before the European Patent Office.
For Germany and Europe, phase entry generally has to be completed within 31 months from the earliest priority date. If no priority was claimed, the international filing date is usually decisive. Because missing the deadline can have serious consequences, the deadline should always be checked before instructions are placed.
Choose Germany if you want to enter the German national phase directly before the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.
Choose Europe if you want to enter the European regional phase before the European Patent Office. Germany is a contracting state of the European Patent Convention, so the European route can generally also lead to patent protection in Germany after grant.
For this reason, if the European route is chosen, a separate German national phase entry for the same PCT application is usually not required. Entering both the German national phase and the European regional phase at the same time is normally only considered in special situations and should be reviewed carefully before filing.
The best route depends on the desired territorial scope, the commercial relevance of the invention and the overall filing strategy.
The following official European Patent Office fees apply when entering the European regional phase from a PCT application (official fees as of 2026, in euros).
| Official fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Filing fee | €135 |
| Additional fee for each page over 35 | €17 |
| Supplementary European search fee | €1,595 |
| Designation fee | €720 |
| Examination fee (where a supplementary European search report is drawn up) | €2,010 |
| Examination fee (where no supplementary search is drawn up, EPO acted as ISA) | €2,240 |
| Claims fee, 16th to 50th claim (each) | €290 |
| Claims fee, 51st claim onward (each) | €720 |
| Renewal fee for the 3rd year (if already due on entry) | €725 |
A 30% reduction on many of these European Patent Office fees (for example the filing, search, examination, designation, grant and renewal fees) is available to applicants who qualify for micro-entity status. See the entry on micro-entity status below.
The following official German Patent and Trade Mark Office fees apply when entering the German national phase from a PCT application (official fees as of 2026, in euros).
| Official fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Filing fee (electronic, up to 10 claims) | €60 |
| Each claim from the 11th claim | €30 |
| Request for examination (with prior international search report) | €150 |
| Request for examination (without prior international search report) | €350 |
| Renewal fee for the 3rd year | €70 |
Micro-entity status is a category introduced by the European Patent Office on 1 April 2024 that entitles eligible applicants to a 30% reduction on many official fees in the European patent grant procedure, including the filing fee, the (supplementary) European search fee, the examination fee, the designation fee, the grant fee and renewal fees. It applies to the European route only and not to the German national phase before the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.
An applicant can qualify as a micro-entity if it is a micro-enterprise (fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total of up to €2 million), a natural person, a non-profit organisation, a university or a public research organisation.
In addition, the applicant must have filed fewer than five European patent applications or Euro-PCT applications in the five years before the relevant date of the application for which the reduction is claimed. Where there are several applicants, every co-applicant must satisfy the requirements.
You can start with a WO publication number or a PCT application number. If automatic data retrieval is not available or incomplete, the calculator may ask for key case data such as the international filing date, the earliest priority date and selected application details needed for the estimate.
The WO publication number is usually shown on the published international application, for example in a format such as WO2023/123456. It can typically be found on the front page of the publication or in patent database records for the PCT application.
The PCT application number is usually shown on the filing receipt and on the international publication record. It often follows a format such as PCT/IB2022/054479, depending on the receiving office and filing year.
If automatic lookup is not available or does not return complete data, you can continue by entering the relevant case data manually. The application should still be reviewed before any filing instruction is placed, especially if the deadline is close.
The priority date is important because the phase entry deadline is generally calculated from the earliest priority date. If no priority was claimed, the international filing date is usually used instead.
If the deadline is close or may have expired, the case should be reviewed immediately. The calculator can assist with orientation, but it cannot determine all legal consequences of a missed or critical deadline in every situation.
No. The calculator only supports planning and preparation. It does not submit documents, pay official fees or create a filing with the German Patent and Trade Mark Office or the European Patent Office.
No. The result is an initial estimate for planning purposes. The actual requirements depend on the application, the selected route, the available documents and the rules of the competent patent office at the time of filing.
Yes. WMW can review the entered application data, check the intended route and advise on the next steps for German national phase entry or European regional phase entry.
After completing the calculation, you can contact WMW with the application reference and the generated case information. WMW can then review the data and confirm the next steps required for phase entry.