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The search fee to be paid if the EPO acts as ISA is reduced by 75% where the applicant or, if there are two or more applicants, each applicant is a natural person who is a national and resident of a state not party to the EPC which on the date of filing of the application is classified as a low-income or lower-middle-income economy by the World Bank. A table containing this classification is available on the EPO website.[ 23 ]
The consequence of the requirement that each applicant must be a natural person who is a national and resident of a state not party to the EPC is that any applicant with the nationality of or residence in an EPC Contracting State does, already for that reason, not fulfil the requirements for the reduction in the search fee (and the fee for international preliminary examination) but may fulfil the requirements for the reduction in the international filing fee (see point 178) and the handling fee (see point 354).