How to Save Time and Money Managing Intellectual Property Renewals

If your intellectual property (IP) renewals are fast approaching, you may be looking for ways to manage them that will save both time and money for your business. Tips ranging from simply filing renewals as soon as possible to outsourcing the management of your IP renewals altogether can have a positive impact on the time and money you spend.

As with all aspects of IP management, it's recommended to seek the advice of an IP expert for tailored advice that will exactly suit your business needs. However, the following tips provide some insights into ways that you could save time and money when managing trademark renewals.

You can also find more insights about the trademark renewals process by watching our webinar on 'How to Implement a Streamlined Renewals Process.'

TIP 1: File Trademark Renewals as Soon as Possible

It may sound obvious but filing your renewals on time is the easiest way to ensure you save time and money. By managing trademark renewals on time, you will avoid late fees—additional financial sanctions for businesses who file their renewals past the renewal deadline.

As an example, the EUIPO provides a grace period of six months after the renewal date within which a trademark can still be renewed; however, using this grace period means that businesses incur an additional 25% charge.

In addition to saving money, filing your renewals as soon as possible also makes the process quicker, since it is not drawn out over a long period of time. Renewing your IP rights as soon as you are notified by the relevant office means that the matter is closed for a substantial amount of time—10 years for a trademark.

Nonetheless, it is important to consider your circumstances before deciding to renew your IP, since it could prove beneficial in some cases to actually delay the renewal of certain intangible assets. If you have multiple IP renewals approaching within a few months of each other, for example, it could prove beneficial to delay some so you can file all necessary renewals at the same time. Although this will not amount to a financial saving (in fact, it could become more expensive if you encounter late fees), the work involved in the process will be lessened by filing your renewals simultaneously.

You should consider your individual circumstances carefully, therefore, before deciding when to file your renewals, as some decisions may save you work but cost you more money.

TIP 2: Renew Less

Another potential option for businesses looking to make savings is to simply renew less. Upon careful consideration, if you have any assets which have not been profitable during the previous term then it may prove more beneficial to your business to abandon these assets and save the time and money that renewal would cost.

In a similar vein, if your trademark is registered in multiple classes though only profitable or used in a handful, it may be sensible to only renew the mark in those classes—especially in jurisdictions where you have to pay renewals for each class.

Given the relatively inexpensive nature of renewals, however, the abandonment of assets altogether or in part may not be recommended if those rights still hold potential value for your business. Instead, greater savings could be found in delegating the management of your IP renewals instead.

TIP 3: Outsource the Trademark Renewals Process

If your business has an in-house legal department that handles the management of renewals, amongst other legal matters, it may prove beneficial to outsource the task of managing trademark renewals to an external specialist.

Outsourcing this task will save time on two fronts:

• Firstly, the renewals can be completed faster as a group of agents which focuses solely on renewals will ensure that yours are done as soon as necessary;
• Secondly, delegating this task also frees your in-house team to focus on other pressing legal matters.

Hiring external staff to manage these renewals can also prove cheaper, as external agents will agree a fee at the outset for the work completed, thereby creating the opportunity to strike a deal which is often cheaper than equivalent work done by in-house departments.

As well as the benefits of saving time and money, outsourcing the management of your renewals also saves you from the potentially stressful process of having to navigate renewals yourself.

To find out more about the benefits of outsourcing trademark renewals, watch our webinar on 'How to Implement a Streamlined Renewals Process.'