Entering the European Regional Phase: A Cost Breakdown of EPO Fees 2026

In April 2026, the European Patent Office (EPO) released its updated fee schedule. Navigating the European regional phase entry of a PCT application requires a solid budget, but the exact costs depend heavily on your specific background and the size of your application.

To give you a clear picture of what to expect, we have calculated the costs for a typical example—comprising 40 pages and 16 claims—across three common scenarios for regional phase entry:

Scenario 1: The Typical Case (No Prior EPO Search)

This is the most frequent scenario for many of our international clients, such as applicants from the US or Canada. 

If the international search was conducted by an office like the USPTO or CIPO, the EPO has not yet issued a search report. Consequently, the full supplementary European search fee is required for the regional phase entry.

EPO fee breakdown table for Euro-PCT regional phase entry with no prior EPO search: total entry costs of 4,820 EUR, including filing, designation, supplementary search, examination, page, and claim fees

The financial outlook changes significantly if the EPO already acted as the International Searching Authority (ISA). This often applies when the applicant is based in Europe and selected the EPO for the international search. 

Because the foundational work is already done, the expensive supplementary search fee is waived during the European regional phase.

EPO fee breakdown table for Euro-PCT regional phase entry with prior EPO search: supplementary search fee waived, total entry costs reduced to 3,225 EUR

A very welcome development in the April 2026 fee schedule is the EPO’s continued support for smaller innovators through the “micro-entity” reduction system.

While eligibility for companies often requires detailed consultation, the situation is usually straightforward for individual applicants (single inventors) and non-profit organizations. 

As long as you meet the requirement of having filed fewer than five European patent applications in the past five years, you can benefit from a substantial 30% discount on almost all fees during the regional phase entry.

EPO fee breakdown table for Euro-PCT regional phase entry with SME/micro-entity 30% fee reduction applied: total entry costs of 3,374 EUR including reduced base and volume-based fees

Strategic Advice: Optimizing Claims and Pages

Looking at the numbers, the page fees for a detailed description are usually manageable. However, the real “music” in the fee schedule lies in the claim fees.

The EPO charges a significant premium for every claim starting from the 16th. We specialize in helping our clients streamline their claim sets before regional phase entry to avoid these avoidable costs. 

In many cases, we can help you stay within the 15-claim limit, saving the extra 275 EUR entirely while still maintaining robust and comprehensive protection for your invention.