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Table of Contents
Foreword
Index
List of regulations
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
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RRF - OJ 2002, 58, OJ 2005, 5, OJ 2006, 8
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Rules relating to Fees of 20 October 1977 as last amended by decision of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation of 15 December 2005
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- OJ 2002, 58, OJ 2005, 5, OJ 2006, 8 -
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THE ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT ORGANISATION,
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HAVING REGARD to the European Patent Convention and in particular Article 33, paragraph 2(d), thereof,
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HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING RULES RELATING TO FEES:
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The following shall be levied in accordance with the provisions contained in these Rules:
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(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 FEE Article 3, paragraph 1;
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(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.
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Fees provided for in the Convention and in the Implementing Regulations
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The fees due to be paid to the Office under Article 1 shall be as follows:
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1.
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Filing fee (Article 78, paragraph 2); national basic fee (Rule 106(a)) where
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- the European patent application or, in the case of an international application, the form for entry into the European phase (EPO Form 1200) is filed online
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- the European patent application or, in the case of an international application, the form for entry into the European phase (EPO Form 1200) is filed on paper
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2.
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Search fee in respect of
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- a European or supplementary European search on an application filed on or after 1 July 2005 (Article 78, paragraph 2, Rule 44a, Rule 46, paragraph 1, and Rule Article 112, Article 157, paragraph 2(b))
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- a supplementary European search on an application filed before 1 July 2005 (Article 157, paragraph 2(b))
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- an international search (Rule 16.1 PCT and Rule 105, paragraph 1)
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3.
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Designation fee for each contracting state designated (Article 79, paragraph 2), designation fees being deemed paid for all contracting states upon payment of seven times the amount of this fee
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3a.
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Joint designation fee for the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein
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3b.
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Surcharge for late payment of the filing fee, the search fee or the designation fee (Rule 85a)
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50% of the relevant fee or fees,
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3c.3 Surcharge for late filing of either the translation of the international application or the request for examination, or for late payment of the national basic fee, the search fee or the designation fees (Rule 108(3) and Rule 108(4)44)
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50% of the relevant fees, but at least EUR 520
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for late filing of the translation up to a maximum of EUR 1 820
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4.
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Renewal fees for the European patent applications (Article 86, paragraph 1), calculated in each case from the date of filing of the application
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- for the 10th and each subsequent year
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5.
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Additional fee for belated payment of a renewal fee for the European patent application (Article 86, paragraph 2)
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10% of the belated renewal fee
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6.
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Examination fee (Article 94, paragraph 2) in respect of
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- an application filed before 1 July 2005
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- an application filed on or after 1 July 2005
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- an international application filed on or after 1 July 2005 for which no supplementary European search report is drawn up (Article 157, paragraph 3(a))
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7.
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Surcharge for late filing of the request for examination (Rule 85b)
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50% of the examination fee
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8.
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Fee for grant, including fee for printing the European patent specification (Article 97, paragraph 2(b)), where the application documents to be printed comprise:
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8.1
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not more than 35 pages
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8.2
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more than 35 pages
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9.
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Fee for printing a new specification of the European patent (Article 102, paragraph 3(b))
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10.
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Opposition fee (Article 99, paragraph 1, and Article 105, paragraph 2)
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11.
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Fee for appeal (Article 108)
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12.
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Fee for further processing (Article 121, paragraph 2)
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13.
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Fee for re-establishment of rights (Article 122, paragraph 3)
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14.
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Conversion fee (Article 136, paragraph 1, and Article 140)
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15.
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Claims fee for the eleventh and each subsequent claim (Rule 31, paragraph 1, Rule Rules 51, paragraph 7, and Rule Rules 110, paragraph 1)
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16.
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Fee for the awarding of costs (Rule 63, paragraph 3)
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17.
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Fee for the conservation of evidence (Rule 75, paragraph 3)
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18.
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Transmittal fee for an international application (Article 152, paragraph 3)
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19.
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Fee for the preliminary examination of an international application (Rule 58 PCT and Rule 105, paragraph 2)
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20.
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Fee for a technical opinion (Article 25)
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Fees, costs and prices laid down by the President of the Office
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(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.
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(3)6 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.
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(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.
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(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.
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(1) The fees due to the Office shall be paid in euro:
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(a) by payment or transfer to a bank account held by the Office,
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(b) by payment or transfer to a Giro account held by the Office, or
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(c) by delivery or remittance of cheques made payable to the Office.
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(2)8 The President of the Office may allow other methods of paying fees than those set out in paragraph 1.
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Particulars concerning payments
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(1)10 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.
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(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.
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Date to be considered as the date on which payment is made
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(1) The date on which any payment shall be considered to have been made to the Office shall be as follows:
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(a) in the cases referred to in FEE Article 5, paragraph 1(a) and FEE Article 5, paragraph 1(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;
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(b) in the case referred to in FEE Article 5, paragraph 1(c): the date of receipt of the cheque at the Office, provided that the cheque is met.
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(2) Where the President of the Office allows, in accordance with the provisions of FEE Article 5, paragraph 2, other methods of paying fees than those set out in FEE Article 5, paragraph 1, he shall also lay down the date on which such payments shall be considered to have been made.
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(3)12 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
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(a) fulfilled one of the following conditions in a Contracting State within the period within which the payment should have been made:
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(i) he effected the payment through a banking establishment or a post office;
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(ii) he duly gave an order to a banking establishment or a post office to transfer the amount of the payment;
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(iii) he despatched at a post office a letter bearing the address of the Office and containing a cheque within the meaning of FEE Article 5, paragraph 1(c), provided that the cheque is met, and
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(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.
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(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.
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Insufficiency of the amount paid
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(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.
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(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.
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(1) The search fee paid for a European or supplementary European search 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 search report.
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(2)14 Where the European search report is based on an earlier search report prepared by the Office on an application whose priority is claimed or an earlier application within the meaning of Article 76 of the Convention or an original application within the meaning of Rule 15 of the Convention, the Office shall refund to the applicant, in accordance with a decision of its President, an amount which shall depend on the type of earlier search and the extent to which the Office benefits from the earlier search report when carrying out the subsequent search.
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Refund of the fee for a technical opinion
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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.
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Refund of examination fee
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(a) in full if the European patent application is withdrawn, refused or deemed to be withdrawn before the Examining Divisions have assumed responsibility;
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(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.
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Refund of insignificant amounts
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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.18
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Refund of fee for international preliminary examination
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If the applicant, during international preliminary examination, has not asked for a detailed preliminary examination or has not filed any amendments under Article 19 PCT or Article 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.
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Decisions fixing costs which are subject to appeal
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(2)21 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.
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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.
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These Rules shall enter into force on 20 October 1977.
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DONE at Munich, 20 October 1977.
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