6. Search fee

Pursuant to Rule 159(1)(e), where a supplementary European search report needs to be drawn up in accordance with Art. 153(7), a search fee must be paid within the 31-month period and a supplementary European search report and search opinion will be issued accordingly (A‑XIV, 5).

The supplementary European search report is dispensed with, and so no search fee must be paid under Rule 159(1)(e), if the EPO has drawn up either the ISR or a SISR. This includes cases where a declaration under Art.17(2)(a) PCT or, in the case of a SISR, a declaration under Rule 45bis.5(c) PCT has been issued (OJ EPO 2009, 594) (A‑XIV, 5).

By decision of the Administrative Council under Art. 153(7), the search fee for a supplementary European search report is reduced by a fixed amount only for international applications for which the patent office of Austria, Finland, Spain, Sweden or Türkiye, the Nordic Patent Institute or the Visegrad Patent Institute has acted as (S)ISA (A‑X, 9.3.1).

Where the requirements for a fee reduction are fulfilled, the fee reduction is granted only once, i.e. for the supplementary search fee paid under Rule 159(1)(e). The reduction applies irrespective of whether the first invention in the claims was searched by the (S)ISA in the international phase. Any further search fee (to be) paid under Rule 164(1) does not qualify for a fee reduction under Art. 153(7) (A‑XIV, 5.2; A‑XIV, 6.2). Therefore, if lack of unity is determined in the international phase, applicants are advised to consider amending their application in view of the possibility that the EPO will agree with the (S)ISA’s finding (A‑XIV, 5.1).

To support small entities and micro-entities, applicants fulfilling certain criteria are entitled to a 30% reduction in the fee for supplementary European search (A‑X, 9.4).

If the supplementary European search report is based on an earlier search report drawn up by the EPO, or if the application claims the priority of a previous application for which a search was carried out by the EPO, (a part of) the fee paid for the supplementary European search may be refunded in accordance with Art. 9(2) RFees (OJ EPO 2009, 99; OJ EPO 2024, A6). The level of the refund depends on the type of earlier search and the extent to which the EPO benefits from the earlier search report when carrying out the supplementary European search (A‑X, 10.2.1).