Group Action Launched Alleging Patent Renewal Fee Mark-Ups

Small businesses allegedly gouged by marked-up patent renewal fees may be able to join a recently filed group action against the intellectual property law firms that assess the fee.  

The group action is seeking to represent thousands of UK small to mid-sized businesses and is claiming that more than £50 million in compensation is due. Two IP renewal service law firms are targeted as defendants in the legal action by lead plaintiff Commission Recovery Ltd.  

The group action claims that the law firms hiked up their patent renewal fee far higher than the businesses would have paid otherwise, allegedly including “secret commissions” as a part of a scheme with management organization CPA Global. The group action contends that the firms and CPA Global exploited small and medium-sized businesses who rely on their IP to function, but do not have the in-house resources to conduct a patent renewal.  

The law firms and CPA Global charged commissions amounting to 20 percent of the total paid by their clients seeking an IP patent renewal. As a result, the group action alleges that the scheme reaped up to £3 million ($4.12 million) each year.  

One of the law firms named as a defendant reportedly issued a statement denying any wrongdoing.  

“Commission Recovery and [its founder] Peter Rouse are commercially driven and motivated by their own business interests”, a spokesperson for the firm Marks & Clerk said in a statement reported by Law360. “The allegations mischaracterize the work we undertake and our relationship with CPA. We will defend the claim vigorously”. 

In their group action, the businesses say that they would not have paid as much for a patent renewal fee had they known about the commissions.  

“It is simply unacceptable that a firm like Marks & Clerk would develop a secret commissions scheme, solely designed to line their own pockets while exploiting the very businesses they claim to serve”, Peter Rouse, founder of Commission Recovery Ltd reportedly said. “We want to provide a mechanism for affected businesses — who have been taken advantage of for years — to seek the justice and compensation they deserve”. 

Have you been hit with a high patent renewal fee? We want to hear from you! Tell us about your experience in the comment section below.  

The lead plaintiffs are represented by Daniel Spendlove of Signature Litigation.  

The Patent Renewal Fee Group Action is Commission Recovery Ltd v. Marks & Clerk LLP, et al., Case No. QB-2021-001327 in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. 

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