Patents for inventions are granted over 10 or 20 years. An application for a long term (20-year) patent can take three to four years to process, while a short-term patent, that lasts 10 years, takes between six and nine months, says Gerard Barrett, assistant principal at the Patents Office in Merrion Square, Dublin. The office does not grant extensions to short-term patents.

Three years after filing, the patent holder is subject to annual renewal charges, ranging from £50 to £369. If the renewal charge isn't paid, the patent is no longer active.

An inventor can submit a partially completed application which will be given a filing date. The application then enters the system, and has priority over later applications covering the same idea, Barrett explains. The office will issue deadlines for the completion of the application.

It's difficult to estimate the cost of a patent, he says, as there is a complex fee structure for a range of services, including amendments to an application, time extensions and various annual renewal fees. Every country sets its own patent charges, so costs of international patents will vary according to the countries it is taken out in.

The Patents Office fees are statutory, and do not include the cost of employing a patent agent, which can be costly. Employing an agent is essential if the application is to be accepted by the office, Barrett says. If the application is not presented in the right way, the patent can't be granted or part of the invention could be stolen, Barrett explains. He says the office has not received any complaints from applicants regarding leaked information or breaches in confidentiality.

As patents take years to process, there is no correlation between the number of applications received annually and the amount of patents granted, says Brian Higgins who works at the office's library. Last year, the office received 940 applications and granted 1,405 patents, while 5,485 Irish applications were processed and granted by the European Patent Office. These patents are active in other European countries.