Sri Lankan official fees are set in a schedule to the Intellectual Property Regulations and charged per step. Two of those steps are not ordinary invoices — pay them late and you lose either your filing date or the application.
This note explains the structure rather than listing amounts. The schedule is set by regulation and revised from time to time, and the current figures are the ones the National Intellectual Property Office publishes.
Quick reference
| Where fees are set | The Second Schedule to the Intellectual Property Regulations No. 01 of 2006 |
| How charged | Per step — application, publication, registration, renewal, recordal |
| Classes | One class per application, so fees multiply by class |
| Fee that moves your filing date | The application fee, if paid later than the application |
| Fee that can end the application | The publication fee — not paid in two months, registration is refused |
| Renewal | Within the twelve months before expiry; a surcharge applies in the six-month grace period |
| Contested matters | Opposition carries a fee; so does the application it opposes |
| Of every fee collected | Two-thirds is paid into a statutory Fund |
The two fees that are not just money
The application fee. The Regulations provide that the date of the application is the date of its receipt — but where the fee is received on a later date, that later date is deemed to be the date of the application.
In a first-to-file system where the ten-year term also runs from the application date, paying late costs you priority and shortens nothing but your own position. The fee is part of the filing, not a follow-up.
The publication fee. Where the Director-General considers the mark admissible, the applicant is asked to pay a publication fee, and the Regulations set the period at two months from the date of the notice. Section 111(8) then requires that where the fee is not paid in time, the Director-General shall refuse registration of the mark.
An application that has survived examination can be lost here. It belongs on the same diary as the substantive deadlines, not in a pile of routine invoices.
What carries a fee
Getting registered — the application, then the publication fee, then registration.
Keeping the registration — a renewal fee for each ten-year term, payable within the twelve months before expiry, and a surcharge where payment is made in the six-month grace period after expiry.
Contested matters — a notice of opposition carries a fee and must be filed with the form and the supporting evidence.
Transactions and changes — recording an assignment or transmission, recording a licence contract, an application for leave to add to or alter a registered mark, and corrections or changes to the owner’s particulars.
Searching — examining the register is open to any person, and certified extracts are available on payment of the prescribed fee.
Agents — registration as an agent carries its own fee and is renewable every three years, with a six-month grace period on payment of a surcharge. That is the agent’s cost rather than the client’s, but it explains why representation is a professional appointment rather than an ad hoc one.
What drives the total
The number of classes. An application may relate to one class only, so each class is a separate application with its own application fee, publication fee, registration fee and renewal fee for the life of the portfolio. Four classes is four of everything.
There is a counterweight worth knowing. Because use of one item in a class prevents removal for all the goods in that class, breadth within a class costs nothing extra and is well protected. Breadth across classes is where the money goes. The discipline belongs at the class level, not the specification level. See trademark classes in Sri Lanka.
Whether anything goes wrong at the formal stage. A formal defect costs a rectification and, more seriously, your filing date. Getting the five representations, the specification, the address for service and the power of attorney right first time is the cheapest intervention available.
Whether the application is contested. An objection answered with evidence, or an opposition that runs to affidavit evidence and a hearing with simultaneous written submissions, adds official fees and the professional time behind them. Searching first is the way to find that out early. See trademark search in Sri Lanka.
Missed renewal dates. The surcharge in the grace period is the small cost. The large one is that there is no restoration route in the Sri Lankan trademark provisions — once the six months pass and the mark is removed, it has to be filed again, with a new date and a fresh opposition window.
Where the money goes
A small point of context that explains the structure. Section 176 establishes a statutory Fund, into which two-thirds of every fee or charge levied under the Act or its regulations is paid, to be applied for the purposes of the Act.
On the firm’s own charges
Ours are a separate conversation and depend on what the matter actually involves — the number of classes, whether the mark needs clearing first, and whether anyone is likely to contest it. We would rather quote on the real scope than publish a figure that fits nobody’s matter.
Frequently asked questions
How are Sri Lankan trademark fees set? By the Second Schedule to the Intellectual Property Regulations, charged per step rather than as a single registration fee.
Does the application fee affect my filing date? Yes. If the fee is received after the application, the later date is deemed to be the date of the application.
What happens if I do not pay the publication fee? Registration is refused. The Regulations allow two months from the notice, and the Act requires refusal if it is not paid in time.
Does filing in more classes cost more? Yes, proportionally. An application covers one class only, so each additional class is a separate application with its own fees at every stage.
Is there a surcharge for late renewal? Yes, within the six-month grace period after expiry. After that the mark is removed and there is no restoration route — it would have to be filed afresh.
Where do I find the current fees? From the National Intellectual Property Office. The schedule is set by regulation and revised from time to time, so the published current schedule is the reliable source.
Useful official resources
- National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka — the current fee schedule and forms
- Intellectual Property Act, No. 36 of 2003 — sections 109, 111, 115, 119, 176
- Intellectual Property Regulations No. 01 of 2006 — regulations 17, 19, 25 and the Second Schedule
See our related notes on filing a trademark in Sri Lanka, trademark classes and trademark renewal.
Working out what a Sri Lankan filing programme will cost to run? Talk to us.