IP Fee Changes in Sweden and Legal Updates in Ukraine
Sweden
As of March 15, 2025, the Swedish Intellectual Property Office (PRV) implemented changes to its fee structure for patents, with additional changes for trademarks effective April 25, 2025. These fee amendments affect various aspects of patent and trademark registration and maintenance.
Patents
Among the most notable alterations to the Swedish patent fees, the cost in relation to the publication of a national patent, as well as the cost for the publication of a European Patent (EP), now constitutes 3,000 SEK, whilst the fee for the re-establishment of patent rights is now 2,000 SEK.
The annual patent fees have been increased by 20% across the board, with the costs associated with the 3rd year of renewal increasing from 1,600 SEK to 1,920 SEK, the 10th year from 3,500 SEK to 4,200 SEK, and the 20th year from 8,000 SEK to 9,600 SEK.
PCT
Due to currency adjustments, PCT fees in Sweden also experienced slight shifts as of June 1, 2025. As per the amended PCT fee schedule, the international filing fee now comprises 15,140 SEK, with each sheet in excess of 30 costing an additional 170 SEK, and the handling fee now set at 2,280 SEK.
Meanwhile, reductions have been made in relation to electronic filing fees, with submissions comprising the filing request alone in character coded format now costing 2,280 SEK, and submissions comprising the request, description, claims, and abstract in character coded format constituting 3,410 SEK.
Trademarks
The amendments to Swedish trademark fees entered into force as of April 25, 2025, spanning across various filing and maintenance costs.
As per the alterations, the fee in relation to an application for the registration of a trademark in one class, including a collective, guarantee or control trademark, as well as the fee for the renewal of a trademark application in one class, now comprises 2,700 SEK if filed by electronic means. If either of the aforementioned requests is filed in paper format, the new fee of 3,900 SEK will apply.
The fee for the reinstatement of a dismissed national trademark application, or an international application filed via the Madrid Protocol, now constitutes 1,000 SEK, whilst an application for the revocation of an international registration now costs 900 SEK.
Ukraine
Ukraine's Parliament made a significant move on April 16, 2025, by adopting legislation aimed at repealing the previously enforced Law “On the Protection of Interests of Persons in the Field of Intellectual Property during the Martial Law in connection with the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine”. This repealed legislation was enacted on April 1, 2022 in order to enforce special provisions and suspend IP-related deadlines amidst the war in Ukraine.
The aforementioned law entered into force on May 31, 2025, and marked the commencement of multiple new provisions for Ukraine's intellectual property field.
One of the most notable changes enforced by the legislation is the termination of the patent validity extension period in Ukraine. Whilst the previous law of 2022 was enforced, any patents that had formally expired during the wartime period remained protected and enforceable. The new legislation means that such patents will now lose the protection that they were afforded during the wartime extension.
The standard fee schedules for both patent and trademark maintenance fees have also resumed with the enactment of the new legislation. In instances where such payments are missed, additional restoration fees must be paid within the applicable deadlines, as failure to do so will result in the withdrawal of the IP right in the jurisdiction.
Further, deadlines which had been relaxed during the enforcement of the previous wartime law have been reinstated as per the new legislation. These include deadlines in relation to fee payments, the issuing of registration certificates, and the filing of necessary documents such as Powers of Attorney. The applicants should now observe these deadlines as usual, in accordance with the standard procedural framework.
The reinstatement of procedural deadlines also means that any IP proceedings before the Ukrainian IP Office that were inactive due to the absence of filings or actions from the parties during the wartime will now begin to be processed.
For example, trademark opposition deadlines have been reverted to the standard 90-day period from publication.
A grace period of 75 days has been afforded to applicants and legal professionals as of the enactment date of the new legislation. This transitional window, which is set to conclude on August 14, 2025, allows for any overdue fees to be paid and any actions to be duly completed in order to sustain IP rights that were postponed during the wartime provisions.