https://www.epo.org/en/service-support/faq/applying-patent/arrangements-deposit-accounts-and-their-annexes/insufficient-0

What happens if the funds in my deposit account are not sufficient to cover all the fees indicated in my debit order? Will the EPO debit any fees and, if so, which one(s)?

Yes. The fees will be debited, starting with any appeal fee (fee code 011) and opposition fee (fee code 010) and then in ascending order of their fee codes, for as long as funds are available. Since the additional fee for each page of an application in excess of 35 (fee codes 501 and 520) is part of the filing fee (codes 001 and 020), this "page" fee is exceptionally booked together with the filing fee.

If a debit order cannot be executed in full, no other debit order will be booked until the account is replenished.

Example

 

An EP application has 38 pages and is filed on 12 October 2022. A debit order is submitted via Online Filing 2.0 for the filing fee (001), the additional fees (501), the search fee (002), the designation fee (005) and the examination fee (006). The account balance is EUR 857.

 

The fees will be booked in the following order: 001, 501, 002, 005 and 006, until the funds are exhausted. As soon as the account is replenished, any still outstanding fees will be debited with effect from the date of replenishment.

 

However, if the deposit account is not replenished in time and/or a debit order is filed on the last day for paying the fees due, further processing may be required.

 

In all cases, it is responsibility of deposit account holders to ensure that their deposit account contains sufficient funds to cover all debit orders submitted.