FEES
Transmission by diskette of particulars about the purpose of payments
Every payment to the EPO must indicate the name of the person making the payment and must contain the necessary particulars to enable the Office to establish immediately the purpose of the payment (Art. 7 RFees). The most practical and frequently used method of transmitting these particulars to the Treasury and Accounts directorate in Munich, which is responsible for processing payments received, is EPO Form 1010 (Payment of fees and costs)1.
The Office has decided to introduce a new arrangement for those who have to make large numbers of fee payments at frequent intervals and who do not have a deposit account with the EPO2. Under this arrangement, which comes into force with immediate effect, particulars about payments may be transmitted by diskette to the Office. This will be of particular benefit to those who normally pay by cheque or by transfer to one of the EPO's bank or Giro accounts.
File specifications are obtainable from the EPO (Directorate Treasury and Accounts) in Munich (Tel.: (+49 89) 2399-4211 or Fax: (+49 89) 2399-2528). DOS/Windows-compatible 3.5" (1.44 MB) diskettes must be used, and the information should be stored in ASCII format. Each diskette should contain one file only (preferably with a minimum of 75 payments). There is no specific file name, although we recommend using the suffix ".FEE". Each diskette should be labelled with the name and address of the sender, the method of payment selected and the date on which payment was ordered. An information sheet, to be provided by the EPO and containing the most important data on the diskette, should be enclosed with each diskette.
Authorisation to use the new arrangement will be given only on successful completion of a trial run using a test diskette.
1 See OJ EPO 1992, 671, for most recent version.
2 For holders of deposit accounts with the EPO, the Arrangements governing the use of magnetic tapes for debiting deposit accounts (OJ EPO 1987, 376) still apply, with the proviso that diskettes are to be used (and have been used for some time) in place of magnetic tapes.