4.4.1 Fee for establishment and transmittal of a certified copy of the priority document to the IB

The fee for establishment and transmittal to the IB of a certified copy of the priority document is paid for the benefit of the RO/EP and applies only if the RO/EP is requested by the applicant to prepare and transmit such a copy (e.g. by checking the corresponding box in Box VI of the PCT request form, PCT/RO/101) and if the earlier priority application was filed before the EPO (EP applications or earlier PCT applications filed at the EPO). Its amount is fixed by the EPO. It is not due if the applicant requests the IB to obtain a certified copy of the priority application from a digital library and indicates the Digital Access Service (DAS) access code on the PCT request form (PCT/RO/101, Box VI).

The procedure whereby the EPO includes, free of charge, a copy of the earlier application from which priority is claimed in the file of a European patent application (cf. GL/EPO EPC Guidelines A‑III, 6.7) does not apply in respect of an international application processed by the RO/EP.