Pages 59-68

FEES

Rules relating to Fees of 20 October 1977 as last amended by decision of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation of 13 December 2001

THE ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT ORGANISATION,

HAVING REGARD to the European Patent Convention and in particular Article 33, paragraph 2(d), thereof,

HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING RULES RELATING TO FEES:

Article 1

General

The following shall be levied in accordance with the provisions contained in these Rules:

(a) fees due to be paid to the European Patent Office (hereinafter referred to as the Office) as provided for in the Convention and in the Implementing Regulations and the fees and costs which the President of the Office lays down pursuant to Article 3, paragraph 1;

(b) fees and costs pursuant to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (hereinafter referred to as the PCT), the amounts of which may be fixed by the Office.

Article 21

Fees provided for in the Convention and in the Implementing Regulations

The fees due to be paid to the Office under Article 1 shall be as follows:

Article 3

Fees, costs and prices laid down by the President of the Office

(1) The President of the Office shall lay down the amount of the administrative fees provided for in the Implementing Regulations and, where appropriate, the amount of the fees and costs for any services rendered by the Office other than those specified in Article 2.

(2) He shall also lay down the prices of the publications referred to in Articles 93, 98, 103 and 129 of the Convention.

(3)4 The amounts of the fees provided for in Article 2 and of the fees and costs laid down in accordance with paragraph 1 shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Patent Office.

Article 4

Due date for fees

(1) Fees in respect of which the due date is not specified in the provisions of the Convention or of the PCT or of the Implementing Regulations thereto shall be due on the date of receipt of the request for the service incurring the fee concerned.

(2) The President of the Office may decide not to make services within the meaning of paragraph 1 dependent upon the advance payment of the corresponding fee.

Article 55

Payment of fees

(1) The fees due to the Office shall be paid in euro:

(a) by payment or transfer to a bank account held by the Office,

(b) by payment or transfer to a Giro account held by the Office, or

(c) by delivery or remittance of cheques made payable to the Office.

(2)6 The President of the Office may allow other methods of paying fees than those set out in paragraph 1.

Article 67 - deleted

Article 7

Particulars concerning payments

(1)8 Every payment 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.

(2) If the purpose of the payment cannot immediately be established, the Office shall require the person making the payment to notify it in writing of this purpose within

such period as it may specify. If he does not comply with this request in due time the payment shall be considered not to have been made.

Article 89

Date to be considered as the date on which payment is made

(1) The date on which any payment shall be considered to have been made to the Office shall be as follows:

(a) in the cases referred to in Article 5, paragraph 1(a) and (b): the date on which the amount of the payment or of the transfer is actually entered in a bank account or a Giro account held by the Office;

(b) in the case referred to in Article 5, paragraph 1(c): the date of receipt of the cheque at the Office, provided that the cheque is met.

(2) Where the President of the Office allows, in accordance with the provisions of Article 5, paragraph 2, other methods of paying fees than those set out in Article 5, paragraph 1, he shall also lay down the date on which such payments shall be considered to have been made.

(3)10 Where, under the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, payment of a fee is not considered to have been made until after the expiry of the period in which it should have been made, it shall be considered that this period has been observed if evidence is provided to the Office that the person who made the payment

(a) fulfilled one of the following conditions in a Contracting State within the period within which the payment should have been made:

(i) he effected the payment through a banking establishment or a post office;

(ii) he duly gave an order to a banking establishment or a post office to transfer the amount of the payment;

(iii) he despatched at a post office a letter bearing the address of the Office and containing a cheque within the meaning of Article 5, paragraph 1(c), provided that the cheque is met, and

(b) paid a surcharge of 10 % on the relevant fee or fees, but not exceeding EUR 150; no surcharge is payable if a condition according to sub-paragraph (a) has been fulfilled not later than ten days before the expiry of the period for payment.

(4) The Office may request the person who made the payment to produce evidence as to the date on which a condition according to paragraph 3(a) was fulfilled and, where required, pay the surcharge referred to in paragraph 3(b), within a period to be specified by it. If he fails to comply with this request or if the evidence is insufficient, or if the required surcharge is not paid in due time, the period for payment shall be considered not to have been observed.

Article 9

Insufficiency of the amount paid

(1) A time limit for payment shall in principle be deemed to have been observed only if the full amount of the fee has been paid in due time. If the fee is not paid in full, the amount which has been paid shall be refunded after the period for payment has expired. The Office may, however, in so far as this is possible within the time remaining before the end of the period, give the person making the payment the opportunity to pay the amount lacking. It may also, where this is considered justified, overlook any small amounts lacking without prejudice to the rights of the person making the payment.

(2) Where the request for grant of a European patent designates more than one Contracting State in accordance with Article 79, paragraph 1, of the Convention, and the amount paid is insufficient to cover all the designation fees, the amount paid shall be applied according to the specifications made by the applicant at the time of payment. If the applicant makes no such specifications at the time of payment, these fees shall be deemed to be paid only for as many designations as are covered by the amount paid and in the order in which the Contracting States are designated in the request.

Article 1011

Refund of the search fee

(1)12 The search fee paid for a European or supplementary European search shall be refunded fully or in part if the European search report is based on an earlier search report already prepared by the Office on an application whose priority is claimed for the European patent application or which is the earlier application within the meaning of Article 76 of the Convention or the original application within the meaning of Rule 15 of the Convention.

(2)13 The amount of any refund allowed under paragraph 1 shall be 50 or 100 % of the search fee, depending upon the extent to which the Office benefits from the earlier search report.

(3) The search fee shall be fully refunded if the European patent application is withdrawn or refused or deemed to be withdrawn at a time when the Office has not yet begun to draw up the European search report.

Article 10a14

Refund of the fee for a technical opinion

An amount of 75 % of the fee for a technical opinion under Article 25 of the Convention shall be refunded if the request for a technical opinion is withdrawn at a time when the Office has not yet begun to draw up the technical opinion.

Article 10b15

Refund of examination fee

The examination fee provided for in Article 94, paragraph 2, of the Convention shall be refunded:

(a) in full if the European patent application is withdrawn, refused or deemed to be withdrawn before the Examining Divisions have assumed responsibility;

(b) at a rate of 75 % if the European patent application is withdrawn, refused or deemed to be withdrawn after the Examining Divisions have assumed responsibility but before substantive examination has begun.

Article 10c16

Refund of insignificant amounts

Where too large a sum is paid to cover a fee, the excess shall not be refunded if the amount is insignificant and the party concerned has not expressly requested a refund. The President of the Office shall determine what constitutes an insignificant amount.17

Article 10d18

Refund of fee for international preliminary examination

If the applicant, during international preliminary examination, has not asked for a detailed preliminary examination or has not filed any amendments under Article 19 or 34(2) PCT or any other arguments, two thirds of the fee paid for international preliminary examination shall be refunded. The details of the refund shall be determined by the President of the Office.

Article 11

Decisions fixing costs which are subject to appeal

In accordance with Article 106, paragraph 5, of the Convention, decisions fixing the amount of costs of opposition proceedings may be appealed if the amount is in excess of the fee for appeal.

Article 12

Reduction of fees

(1) The reduction laid down in Rule 6, paragraph 3, of the Convention shall be 20 % of the filing fee, examination fee, opposition fee and fee for appeal.

(2)19 The reduction laid down in Rule 107, paragraph 2, of the Convention shall be 50 % of the examination fee. The reduction shall not be granted if the Office as an International Preliminary Examining Authority has refunded the fee paid for preliminary examination under Article 10d.

Article 1320

Notification

The President of the European Patent Office shall forward a certified copy of these Rules to all the signatory States to the Convention and to the States which accede thereto.

Article 1421

Entry into force

These Rules shall enter into force on 20 October 1977.

DONE at Munich, 20 October 1977.