The fees due must be paid to the EPO in euros via any of the accepted payment methods. Payments can be made by debit from a deposit account held with the EPO, credit card or bank transfer.
All of these payment methods can be accessed via Central Fee Payment, the EPO website (epo.org) or MyEPO Portfolio. Fees may be validly paid by any person, i.e. there is no need to appoint a representative for this. Information relating to fees and methods of payment, including the EPO bank account for payments in euros, can also be found on the EPO website (epo.org).
New automatic debiting requests and refund instructions will need to be filed for the Unitary Patent procedure as existing instructions for European patent applications or patents do not automatically extend to the Unitary Patent procedure.