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. We will also make many documents on the open part of the file for the patent available to the public including by putting them on our website.

Your name and address will appear on the front page of the published application. Upon publication these details will also appear in our records and in our online Patents Journal, both of which are available to the public on our website and can be permanently searched using most standard search engines. If you do not want your home address published, please give us a different address where you can be contacted, such as a business address or a PO Box address.

Request substantive examination

You must request substantive examination within 6 months of publication.

We will examine your application and tell you if it meets the legal 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.

Accelerated processing of a patent application

Various methods of accelerating the examination procedure are available - see our patents fast grant guidance PDF document(94Kb) for further details. For example, if your application relates to an invention with an environmental benefit, accelerated processing is available throug the Green Channel for patent applications. Acceleration options are also provided by the Patent Prosecution Highway and PCT (UK) Fast Track, each of which allow intellectual property offices to make use of work already conducted at another office.

Granting a patent

When your application meets the legal 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, however the procedure may be accelerated as explained above. There is generally a time limit of 4½ years from the application'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).