Apply for a Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC)

To apply, you must ask us to examine your SPC application to see if you can obtain a certificate.

You should apply within 6 months of the grant of the first authorisation in the United Kingdom or if the authorisation is granted before the patent, within 6 months of grant of the patent.

To apply for an SPC, you need to fill in form SP1 PDF document(22Kb) and send us:

  • A fee of GBP £250
  • a copy of the first United Kingdom (UK) authorisation if this is not the first authorisation to place the product on the market in the European Union (EU) you must also include
  • a copy of the notice publishing the authorisation in the appropriate official gazette, together with a translation if this is not in English, or a copy of that authorisation.

We have prepared a detailed guide for applicants PDF document(278Kb) explaining how to apply for an SPC and the different stages of the examination process.

Send us your request

Send us your filled in form, fee, authorisation, and translation if necessary, to:

Intellectual Property Office
Concept House
Cardiff Road
Newport
South Wales
NP10 8QQ
United Kingdom

What happens next?

When we receive your application, we will examine your application to decide whether it meets SPC requirements.

If your application meets the requirements we grant your application, advertise that we have granted it and tell you how long your protection will last.

If we find any problems with your application, we will tell you and give you chance to respond.

There is no time limit for granting or rejecting a SPC application.