Central Fee Payment

An EPO smart card plugged in to a laptop

The EPO's Online Fee Payment service and Multipay Tool are no longer available (decommissioned as from 10 September 2022; see also Notice from the European Patent Office dated 19 July 2022 concerning Central Fee Payment). Central Fee Payment has replaced Online Fee Payment.

You have several options for paying your patent fees online:

  • using Central Fee Payment, where you can arrange to pay:
    • by debit order from your deposit account
    • by credit card with immediate effect
    • by using the bank transfer functionality
  • using online filing services to pay by debit order from your deposit account

Service

 

Payment method

Deposit account Bank transfer Credit card

Central Fee Payment

  1. Submit single and batch debit orders
  2. Request and revoke single and batch automatic debit orders
  3. Claim refunds
  1. Submit single and batch payment orders, bank transfers to be done separately via your bank
  2. Claim refunds

Submit single and batch payments

Online Filing 2.0

  1. Submit single debit orders
  2. Request single automatic debit orders
  3. Provide single refund instructions

Selecting this mode of payment is considered merely an indication of how you intend to pay

Online Filing

ePCT

Secure access

To pay patent fees by credit card (processed by the e-payments provider Ingenico), use the bank transfer functionality to prepare a bank transfer or claim refunds online, you first have to register as a user in Central Fee Payment. This involves setting up a username and password, but no smart card authentication is needed.

You need a smart card to pay patent fees via a deposit account in Central Fee Payment. 

Getting started

What you need to be able to use Central Fee Payment and pay fees via deposit account

  • EPO deposit account. To open, reopen, close or update an EPO deposit account, please use the online form.
  • Hardware and software required
    • smart card (see Smart card and security)
    • smart card reader, reader driver and cryptovision software (see Smart card and security)
    • Web browser: Internet Explorer 9 and above with Compatibility View disabled, Mozilla Firefox latest version, Google Chrome. Mac: Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox.
      If you have Mozilla Firefox, you will need to install cryptovision first.
  • Further settings
    • Linking your deposit account to your smart card
      We have to link your deposit account to your smart card in the EPO system. If you did not indicate your deposit account on your smart card request form, you should contact EPO User Support indicating both your smart card details and your deposit account number(s).
    • Granting Central Fee Payment rights
      Your company's My.epoline administrator has to grant your smart card the necessary Central Fee Payment rights.

Features and benefits

Features

With Central Fee Payment you can

  • pay fees singly or in batches either by credit card, from your deposit account or via bank transfer
  • claim refunds to an EPO deposit account or a bank account of your choice
  • request and revoke automatic debiting for your applications (single or batch)
  • view
    • and download your order history as a PDF file
    • your rejected fee payment history
    • and download the schedule of fees in an XML file
    • your refund history
    • and download your pending transactions and transactions booked up to two years in the past in an XML, CSV or PDF file
    • your deposit account balance at the end of selected periods up to two years in the past
    • and download your applications subject to automatic debiting in a CSV or PDF file
    • and download your request and revocation history for automatic debit orders in a CSV and PDF file

Benefits

  • Access to deposit account information at your fingertips
  • Up-to-date fee amounts
  • Payment possible up to the last minute
  • Immediate confirmation of receipt of your payment order and payment confirmations available in the Fee order history
  • Access to account statements
  • Flexible online administration
  • Increased transparency of payment procedure
  • Overview of fees due

Support

Legal sources

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