Article 5(2) RRF - OJ 2005, Suppl. to No. 1/2005, page 37

Annex B.1 to the ADA
Arrangements for online fee payment via My.epoline

- OJ 2005, Suppl. to No. 1/2005, page 37 -

CONTENTS

1. General provisions

2. Authorisation

3. Debiting the deposit account

4.  Inspecting the account

5.  Withdrawal of authorisation

Appendix 1: DTD¹ for creating the XML² file for batch payments

1. General provisions

Online fee payment via My.epoline® comprises paying fees and inspecting the account. Unless otherwise stated below, it is governed by the Arrangements for deposit accounts³.

2. Authorisation

2.1 Natural persons who hold a deposit account with the EPO may be authorised to pay fees online via My.epoline®.

2.2 Authorisation occurs on the basis of a signed written request by the account holder and addressed to:

European Patent Office

Branch at The Hague

EPO Customer Services

PO Box 5818

NL-2280 HV Rijswijk

Fax: (+ 31 (0)70) 340 4600

E-mail: epoline@epo.org

2.3 If the request is filed by fax or e-mail no written confirmation (or signature, in the case of e-mail) is required.

2.4 A further condition for online fee payment via My.epoline is possession of a valid smart card and reader. This package for secure access to online fee payment is available free of charge from the EPO via the "Enrol" link on the My.epoline home page.

3. Debiting the deposit account

3.1 Deposit accounts may be debited in respect of fees and costs payable to the EPO and assignable to an application number.

3.2 The account is debited on the basis of the payment data supplied by the user online. Users may issue either an individual debit order covering a single application or a batch debit order covering several.

3.3 The batch debit order must be supplied as an XML file, which should be created using the DTD published in the appendix to this annex.

3.4 Receipt of the debit order is indicated on screen. This confirmation of receipt may be printed out by the user. If a debit order is rejected during transmission due to an automatic check conducted by the EPO server, the user receives an error message and the debit order is regarded as not received and the payment as not made.

3.5. The date of receipt of the payment at the EPO is the day on which a readable and virus-free debit order is received, provided the account contains sufficient funds.

3.6 If the funds are partly insufficient and the debit order relates to multiple payments, these are debited in ascending order of application number.

3.7 If the deposit account is replenished within the time limits laid down in the Arrangements for deposit accounts and an administrative fee of 5% of the shortfall - but not less than euro 150 or more than euro 765 - is paid, then the date of receipt of the debit order is regarded as the date of receipt of payment.

4. Inspecting the account

Online users may check the balance of their deposit accounts, past transactions (for a limited period⁴) and debit orders filed under My.epoline but not yet processed, and consult the schedule of fees. The data may also be downloaded.

5. Withdrawal of authorisation

If use of online fee payment via My.epoline causes difficulties, the EPO may decide to withdraw its authorisation for the service and cancel the smart card.