Frequently asked questions for epvalidation

In short, everything to do with European patent validation. Our pricing takes into account any attorney fees, government fees and translation fees associated with validating a European patent in your selected countries. We give you a summary of these fees in our free cost calculator and provide full details of all of the fees in the invoices we send you once you place your order.

There are no surprise charges, hidden fees or extras such as postage, photocopying or stationary charges. The fees we charge up front are the only fees you will pay for your patent validation.

Please note, however, that our prices do not include any costs after validation, such as annuities.

No. Although we have a number of qualified patent attorneys and intellectual property (IP) professionals working at inovia, we are not a law firm. We are a foreign filing platform for patent owners and attorney firms. We are happy to answer questions on the European validation process, but we do not offer specific legal advice.

Our patented technology and internal processes have enabled us to streamline many aspects of the European patent validation process. Because it takes us less time than anyone else to process your application, we can pass the reduced labor costs on to you.

Also, since we specialize in European validation, we have a lot of bulk buying power. We have used that to negotiate excellent rates with our foreign attorneys and we also pass those savings to you.

When using inovia you receive excellent service. Because we are highly efficient, you reap the financial benefits.

The short answer is both. 70% of our top 20 clients are attorney firms and attorneys comprise a large proportion of our 750+ clients.

Attorneys with more than 10 validations per year can also access our wholesale prices through our Frequent Filer program. Call us to find out how partnering with inovia can benefit you and your clients.

When it comes to foreign translations, we know that quality is paramount. We recognize that good translations cannot be automated, and although we have managed to negotiate good translation rates, the cost is not as important as the quality.

For this reason, we carefully select our translators according to their expertise. Native speakers with experience in the relevant technical field prepare our translations. If a patent attorney does not prepare the translation, it will be formally reviewed by a qualified patent attorney to ensure its technical accuracy and the appropriate use of legal terminology.

After receiving your instructions to validate a European patent, we will send you an email attaching any required Powers of Attorney. You need to print them out, have them signed and faxed (or scan and email) back to us and we will check that they have been completed properly. You will then need to send the originals directly to each of the relevant foreign attorneys.

If you intend to validate a number of European patents through us in the future, we can arrange a general Power of Attorney for each country. Then, you will not need to sign Powers of Attorney for future cases. Please call us if you would like more information.

Yes. We have created a network of reputable foreign agents with proven track records and have negotiated excellent rates with one top-quality European attorney in each country. European validation is an important step in the patent process, but it is really an administrative task. Our network of European agents are more than capable of preparing quality translations and formal documents and lodging them safely on your behalf.

We work with both patent owners and their attorneys, and are happy to receive instructions from either you or your representative. Either one of you can generate instant cost calculations and place orders using our simple online tools.

We are a global company run by patent attorneys; the agents we use in various countries are all qualified and experienced patent attorneys. The combination of our expertise, technology and agent network make inovia’s services as safe as those of any patent attorney firm.

98% of our 750+ clients say they will use us again and we are more than happy to provide you with references from our current clients.

After receiving your order, we will give you invoices for your selected countries giving you precise totals of all costs in Euros. You can then pay us either by wire transfer, credit card or check. Please note that credit card payments incur an additional bank fee of 4%.

You should also note that some banks levy fees on transfers to overseas accounts. When wiring funds, please ensure that any fees levied by your bank (or any intermediate entity) are covered by your account to avoid further inovia invoices.

As specialists in European validation, our services end once a patent has been validated. After that, there is no further examination in each individual European country. All you need to do is pay the yearly renewal fees (annuities) to keep a patent alive.

You should communicate directly with our agents for annuity payments. If an annuities provider is looking after the process for you, please let us know when placing the order.

As specialists in European patent validation, we are familiar with the translation requirements of all European countries. Our cost calculator and order tools are designed to take the London Agreement and any changes to country requirements into consideration. Simply enter your patent details into our cost calculator and we will automatically calculate the language permutations and whether you need to translate the claims or description.

We understand that many attorneys rely on incoming work from their foreign associates as an important part of their business. Most attorneys find that they receive work back from two or three major countries, but not from others. In order to retain these important links some attorneys choose to use inovia for most countries, but instruct their contacts in the reciprocal countries the traditional way.

Call us to talk about how our flexible approach can benefit both you and your client.