Fee payments and refunds

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

• Arrangements for deposit accounts (ADA)
• FAQ about the Arrangements for deposit accounts (ADA)
• FAQ about the automatic debiting procedure for PCT fees

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.

Legal sources

• Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 22 August 2017 concerning the payment of fees by credit card (OJ 2017, A72)
• Notice from the European Patent Office dated 13 May 2020 concerning the payment of fees by credit card (OJ 2020, A62)

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.

Legal sources

• Notice from the European Patent Office dated 23 October 2017 concerning fee payments via bank transfer (OJ EPO 2017, A100)

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 be filed using our online filing tools.

Legal sources

• Notice from the European Patent Office dated 20 August 2019 concerning the revised fee refund procedures (OJ 2019, A82)

Getting started

• Open/re-open/close/update details for a deposit account

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

• Notice from the European Patent Office dated 20 August 2019 concerning the revised fee refund procedures (OJ 2019, A82)

Getting started

• How to have refunds credited to a bank account: "Pay fees and claim refunds"

The EPO no longer issues refunds of fees by cheque (effective 1.4.2019).