How much is the appeal fee? In what circumstances may this fee be reimbursed?
Notice of appeal is not deemed to have been filed until the fee for appeal has been paid.
The amount of the appeal fee is laid down in the Rules relating to Fees.
- Article 2 Rules relating to Fees (paragraph 1, item 11)
The correct fee amount should always be checked. Up-to-date fee information is available via:
In exceptional cases, the appeal fee can be reimbursed in full, see Rule 103(1) EPC. This may be so, for example, if the appeal is allowed and it is held that a substantial procedure violation occurred before the department taking the appealed decision.
In other cases, the appeal fee is reimbursed at 75%, 50% or 25% if the appeal is withdrawn by certain stages in the appeal proceedings, see Rule 103(2), (3) and (4) EPC. The appeal fee may be reimbursed at 25% if the appellant withdraws its request for oral proceedings, see Rule 103(4)(c) EPC.