2.2.2 Accepted means of filing a debit order

Since 2017, debit orders submitted to the EPO must be filed in an electronically processable format by an accepted means (point 7.1.2 ADA; see also decision of the President of the EPO dated 25 September 2024 concerning the revision of the ADA and their annexes, OJ 2024, A81). With that, the previous payment form EPO Form 1010 in particular became obsolete (for more on debit orders that are invalid because submitted in another way or format, see point 7.1.3 ADA, see also T 590/18 of 4 July 2018 date: 2018-07-04 in chapter III.A.2.2.1, T 703/19 and T 1146/20). It follows that some of the decisions in this section are now of limited application.

In T 480/21 the board concluded that an extension of the period for paying the opposition fee was provided under point 5.5 ADA 2017 (point 11 ADA 2024). The evidence strongly suggested that the inability to file the debit order was due to a malfunction of the EPO’s Online Filing software, which, in this case, was attributable to the EPO. See also T 2053/20 in chapter III.A.3.2.