2.1.4 Filing fee, designation fee, request for examination and search fee 

Under Rule 159(1)(c), applicants must pay the filing fee, including any additional fee for pages in excess of thirty-five (see A‑III, 13.2), within a period of 31 months from the date of filing or, if priority has been claimed, from the earliest priority date. Further, under Rule 159(1)(d), they must pay the designation fee within this period, if the time limit specified in Rule 39(1) has expired earlier. Under Rule 159(1)(f), the request for examination must also be filed within this period, if the time limit specified in Rule 70(1) has expired earlier (see also E‑IX, 2.5.2). Where a supplementary European search report needs to be drawn up, a search fee must also be paid to the EPO within this period (see also E‑IX, 2.5.3). Failure to pay in due time the filing fee, the additional fee, the search fee, the designation fee or the examination fee, or to file the request for examination, means that the application is deemed to be withdrawn.

If the EPO finds that the application is deemed to be withdrawn for this reason, it communicates this to the applicant (Rule 160(2)).

The communication under Rule 160(2) and the communication according to Rule 112(1) are sent together in one and the same communication. In response to this notification of a loss of rights, the applicant can request further processing (see E‑VIII, 2).