When governments set fees for patents, trade marks and other intellectual property protection, they take a number of different factors into consideration:

Most patent offices are expected to cover their own operating expenses from the fees they charge to applicants for intellectual property protection. Some are even expected to make a surplus for their national treasuries, making IP a net revenue generator for some governments. The UKIPO, for example, made a surplus on its operating activities of around £12million in FY2008, but a loss of £7million in FY 2009, and pays an annual “dividend” to the UK Exchequer. The total number of IP filings, grants, renewals etc that they expect each year are all be taken into account when patent offices revise budgets and set their fees.

The patent offices know how long it normally takes for them to complete work on different types of intellectual property. The official fees for patents are higher than those for trade marks in part because it takes examiners longer, on average, to decide on the merits of a patent application than a trade mark one.

The official fees for IPRs are also set in part with a view to their market value. In consequence, for example, the annual patent renewal fees increase each year not because it takes any more time to process the applications but because governments consider that the value of a patent is likely to have risen if it is still worth maintaining it.

And one obvious tip: whenever you are discussing the cost of intellectual property filing programmes with patent and trade mark attorneys in the UK or elsewhere in the world, make sure you’re clear on whether the costs you are talking about include official fees and other disbursements.