About debit orders
Deposit accounts are debited on the basis of an electronic debit order signed by the account holder or authorised representative.
The debit order may be
- for individual fees for one or more applications, i.e. a single or a batch debit order, or
- an automatic debit order for a specific European or international patent application, authorising the EPO to debit fees automatically as the proceedings progress
Legal sources and FAQs
About credit card payment
You can pay patent fees online by credit card. This is a secure and flexible way of making instant fee payments.
Refunds of payment by credit card
Please note that refunds to credit card accounts are not possible.
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About bank transfers
All payments and transfers to the EPO are to be made in EUR and without charge to the payee to the following account:
Beneficiary: European Patent Organisation
No. 3 338 800 00 (BLZ 700 800 00)
IBAN DE20 7008 0000 0333 8800 00
BIC* DRESDEFF700
Commerzbank AG
Leopoldstrasse 230
80807 München
Germany
* Please use COBADEFFXXX if DRESDEFF700 is not recognised.
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Refunds via deposit account
Applicants/professional representatives can file refund instructions pertaining to a given application requesting that all refunds be credited to a deposit account held with the EPO. Refund instructions should preferably be filed using our online filing tools.
If you have not filed any refund instructions and you hold a deposit account with the EPO, refunds will be credited to that account.
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Getting started
Refunds to a bank account
If you have not filed any refund instructions and do not hold a deposit account with the EPO, you can claim any pending refunds online and ask for them to be credited to a bank account.
Legal sources
Getting started
The EPO no longer issues refunds of fees by cheque (effective 1.4.2019).
