10.2.5 Refund of the fee for grant and publishing 

If the application is refused, withdrawn prior to notification of the decision on the grant of a European patent or, at that time, deemed to be withdrawn, the fee for grant and publishing shall be refunded. The date of notification of the decision is determined as indicated in E‑II, 2. Note that this date is later than the date on which the decision is handed over to the EPO internal postal service (i.e. decision G 12/91 does not apply in this case).

This may happen, for example, where the applicant pays the fee for grant and publishing within the Rule 71(3) period but does not pay the claims fees which are due and/or neglects to file the translations of the claims, leading to deemed withdrawal of the application under Rule 71(7) (see C‑V, 3).

Where the application is refused, the refund will be effected only after the period for filing of an appeal has expired without an appeal having been filed (see E‑XII, 6). Where the application is deemed to be withdrawn, the refund will be effected only after the period for requesting further processing has expired and this has not been requested by the applicant (see E‑VIII, 2).