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Notice from the European Patent Office dated 21 January 1999 concerning the publication of a revised version of the Arrangements for deposit accounts and their annexes

The revised version1 of the Arrangements for deposit accounts (ADA) and their annexes takes account of all amendments since 1982, the last time the Arrangements were published in full2. It also contains a number of other changes.

These changes are of a primarily editorial nature. For example, lists of contents have been added to the Arrangements and annexes for ease of use. Footnotes and references to appendices have also been adapted accordingly.

The main substantive amendments are as follows:

• No. 6.2 ADA covers the existing legal situation and practice with regard to debit orders transmitted by fax, telegram or telex3.
• The provisions relating to bank statements have been amended because statements for deposit accounts are issued more frequently than in the past, and balances can now be obtained on-line4.
• The information from the EPO concerning the automatic debiting procedure has been amended in the light of the effects of the amendments to Articles 97(6) and 79(2) EPC on the programme for accelerated prosecution of European patent applications ("PACE")5. The notes on point 12 AAD (Use of other forms of payment), point 3(d) AAD (Designation fees), point 3(e) AAD (Claims fees under Rule 51(7) EPC), point 3(f) AAD ("European" renewal fees), point 3(h) AAD (Fee for grant, including fee for printing) and point 3(t) AAD (Extension fee) now state that applicants wishing to take advantage of the opportunity to accelerate the final phase of the European grant procedure must use another form of payment to pay earlier.
• Users of the magnetic tape system (Annex B to the ADA) have already been informed by the Treasury and Accounts Directorate that the EPO would in future be using diskettes rather than magnetic tapes. In point 9 ADA and Annex B (Arrangements governing the use of magnetic tapes for debiting deposit accounts), the words "magnetic tape" have therefore been replaced throughout by the word "diskette". The data carrier specifications (Appendix 1 to Annex B) have also been amended accordingly. The following sentence has been added to point 2.2 of Annex B: "This method only becomes appropriate when on average 75 payments per diskette are made". Point 3.1 of Annex B now states that it is also permissible to quote the international application number. Footnote 1 to Annex B has been brought into line with the current version of Article 8(3) and (4) RFees.