2.2 – Fees

Question 1

Who can make fee payments?

Answer 1

Anyone can validly pay fees to the EPO (GL A-X, 1)

The fact that a fee has been paid by a third party does not make that person a party to the proceedings to which the payment relates.

Anyone may make a fee payment to the EPO, regardless of whether they have a direct relationship with the applicant/patentee, regardless of the country of origin of the payment and without the need for authorisation from the party concerned.

However, any communication relating to the payment will be sent only to the party concerned or their representative.

Question 2

Methods of payment to EPO:

Answer 2

1. Payment or transfer to a bank account held by EPO
2. Debit order to a deposit account held with the EPO
3. Credit card (made in euro via EPO’s credit card fee payment service) (refunds can’t be made to credit card accounts)

Payment is deemed to have been made on the date on which the transaction is approved.

Question 3

Who is responsible for transaction-related charges?

Answer 3

The EPO

Question 4

What currencies are accepted by the EPO?

Answer 4

All payments to the EPO must be made in euro.

If a payment is made in a different currency, it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the payment, once converted to euro, corresponds to the correct fee amount in euro.

The date of payment is considered to be the date on which a transfer or cash payment actually enters the bank account of the EPO.

Question 5

What happens if a payment period expires on a day the EPO is closed?

Answer 5

The payment period is extended to the first working day thereafter on which all such means of making payment are available.

This applies even if the outage affects only one of the means of making payment.

However, certain conditions relating to the duration of the outage and the advance notice by the EPO apply. In
addition, the outage of payment tools that serve exclusively for making payments cannot be invoked for the extension of periods relating to the filing of documents (OJ EPO 2020, A120).

Question 6

What’s the due date?

Answer 6

The term “due date” refers to the first day on which payment of a fee may be validly made, not the last day of a period for such payment.

Renewal fees are an exception to this rule. They must be paid no later than the due date.

If no due date is specified, the fee is due on the date of receipt of the request for the service incurring the fee concerned (Article 4(1) RFees).

Question 7

When may fees be validly paid?

Answer 7

Fees may not be validly paid before the due date, except for renewal fees, which may be validly paid up to three months before the due date (GL A-X, 5.1.1 and 5.2.4).

Note: The renewal fee for the third year may be paid up to six months before the due date (Rule 51(1) EPC)

Question 8

When are renewal fees due?

Answer 8

Renewal fees are payable in respect of the third and each subsequent year, calculated from the date of filing (Article 86(1)EPC).

Renewal fees for a European patent application in respect of the coming year are due on the last day of the month containing the anniversary of the date of filing of the European patent application (Article 86 and Rule 51(1) EPC).

Renewal fees may not be validly paid more than three months before they fall due. One exception to this is the renewal fee for the third year, which may be paid up to six months before it falls due (Rule 51(1) EPC, GL A-X, 5.1)

Question 9

What if renewal fees are not paid in time?

Answer 9

It may be validly paid within 6 months of said date, provided that a 50% additional fee is paid within this period (Rule 51(2).

Note that the expiry of the six-month grace period is NOT calculated as a so-called aggregate time limit since the grace period for belated payment with anadditional fee is triggered by a due date, which is not treated the same as the expiry of another time period (GL A-X, 5.2.4)

If the renewal fee or any additional fee is not paid, the application is deemed withdrawn.

Only re-establishment can be used (no FP).

Question 10

For how long are renewal fees paid to the EPO?

Answer 10

Obligation to pay renewal fees to the EPO ends with
the payment of the renewal fee due in respect of the year in which the mention of the grant of the European patent is published (Article 86(2)).

After that, renewal fees are paid to the respective national patent offices.

Renewal fees in respect of Unitary Patents are paid to the EPO.

Question 11

Fail-safe arrangement for fee payments via banks:

Answer 11

If the payer provides evidence to the EPO that:
* (i) they made payment through a bank in an EPC contracting state, or
* (ii) they duly gave an order to a bank to transfer the amount of the payment in an EPC contracting state

in the period the payment should have been made, then they are considered to have observed the period for payment (Article 7(3) RFees).

The EPO may ask the payer to provide evidence within a period to be specified. Failure to provide satisfactory evidence in due time results in the period for payment being considered not to have been observed (Article 7(4) RFees).

Only payments effected from EPC contracting states may apply the fail-safe rule of Article 7(3) and (4) RFees.

Must indicate purpose of payment.

Question 12

Further processing for fee payments?

Answer 12

Yes

Under Article 121(1) EPC, further processing can be requested in respect of the time limits for the payment of the filing, search, designation and examination fees and of the time limit for filing the request for examination. Such requests do not have to be in writing, they can be made simply by payment of the prescribed fee.

A fee for further processing must be paid for each omitted act. It is therefore possible for more than one fee to be due at a particular time.

Question 13

When is the examination fee reduced due to filing the request for examination in a non-EPO language, and what common mistake removes the entitlement to the reduction?

Answer 13

The examination fee is reduced if the request for examination is filed in an admissible non-EPO language, provided that a translation into an EPO official language is also filed.
However, the translation must not be filed before the request in the non-EPO language. If the translation is filed first, the request is deemed to be filed in an EPO language and no fee reduction applies.
Since EPO Forms 1001 and 1200 already contain a request in an EPO language, any request in a non-EPO language should be additionally entered in the designated box to preserve the fee reduction.

Question 14

When is the filing fee reduced for a European patent application?

Answer 14

The filing fee is reduced if at least the description is filed in an admissible non-EPO language (i.e. an official language of an EPC Contracting State that is not an EPO official language), and the application is filed by a national or resident of that state.

The reduction also applies when the application is filed by reference to a previously filed application in such a language, provided the nationality/residency requirement is met.

Since the additional page fee (over 35 pages) forms part of the filing fee, the reduction applies to that fee as well.

Question 15

When is the search fee for a supplementary European search reduced or not due?

Answer 15

The search fee for a supplementary European search report is reduced by a fixed amount for PCT applications where the International Searching Authority (ISA) was one of the following:

• Austria, Finland, Spain, Sweden or Turkey
• Nordic Patent Institute
• Visegrad Patent Institute

The same reduction applies where one of these offices prepared the supplementary international search report.

If the EPO itself was the ISA, no supplementary European search is carried out, and no search fee is due at all.

Question 16

When is the examination fee reduced if the EPO has drawn up the IPER, and how do multiple reductions combine?

Answer 16

If the EPO has drawn up the International Preliminary Examination Report (IPER) and the EPO is the elected Office (i.e. the application enters the European phase), the examination fee is reduced by 75% (Article 14(2) RFees).

If the application also qualifies for a 30% language-based reduction (Article 14(1) RFees), the reductions are applied sequentially, not cumulatively:

1. First, the fee is reduced by 75%.
2. Then, a further 30% is applied to the remaining 25%.

Question 17

When is a reduced appeal fee payable before the EPO, what formalities apply, and what are the consequences of paying the wrong amount?

Answer 17

A reduced appeal fee is payable if the appeal is filed by a natural person or an entity listed in Rule 7a(2) EPC, namely:

• microenterprises
• small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
• non-profit organisations
• universities
• public research organisations

If there are multiple appellants, all must qualify under Rule 7a(2) EPC for the reduction to apply.

A declaration of entitlement is required. It should be filed within the two-month time limit for filing the notice of appeal, but EPO case law allows it to be filed any time up to the end of the appeal period (T 1060/19).

If only the reduced fee is paid without entitlement, the appeal is deemed not to have been filed. The shortfall cannot be ignored, as the reduction is not merely symbolic (T 2620/18).

If the reduced fee was paid by mistake, despite an intention to pay the full fee, the error may be corrected under Rule 139 EPC, depending on the circumstances (T 0444/20).

Reduced appeal fee = status + declaration + correct amount — miss any one, and the appeal is dead.

Question 18

Which fee reductions apply for international (PCT) applications handled at the EPO?

Answer 18

• International filing fee: 90% reduction if the requirements of PCT Schedule of Fees, point 5 (Rule 96 PCT) are met.
  – If multiple applicants: each must meet point 5; only one must be a national/resident of certain listed EPC/PCT states.
• International search, supplementary search & IPER fees: 75% reduction for natural persons who are nationals and residents of:
  – Low-income or lower-middle-income countries (World Bank classification), or
  – Validation agreement states (e.g. Morocco, Moldova, Tunisia, Cambodia, Georgia).
  – If multiple applicants: all must qualify.

Question 19

Under what circumstances will the EPO normally refund fees?

Answer 19

No legal basis → fee is refunded.
A fee is valid only if:

1. proceedings are pending, and
2. payment is made on or after the due date.
   
   • If paid on/before the due date and the legal basis ceases by that date (e.g. application withdrawn/deemed withdrawn) → refund.
   • If the legal basis ceases after payment while proceedings were still pending → no refund.
   • Invalid payments (e.g. late fee without surcharge or further processing) → refund.
   • Overpayments are refunded, except amounts < EUR 16 unless a refund is expressly requested.

Question 20

When does the EPO refund a search fee?

Answer 20

• 100% refund if the application is withdrawn/refused/deemed withdrawn before the search starts
• Partial or full refund if an earlier EPO search can be reused (priority/divisional/new filing)
• Extra unity search fees refunded if non-unity not maintained
• International search: 84% (full reuse) or 21% (partial reuse)
• 75% reduction for eligible applicants from low-income / lower-middle-income countries

Question 21

When does the EPO refund an examination fee?

Answer 21

• 100% refund if the application is withdrawn, refused or deemed withdrawn before substantive examination starts
• 50% refund if the application is actively withdrawn after substantive examination starts but before expiry of the time limit to reply to the first Art. 94(3) EPC communication
• 50% refund if the EPO proceeds directly to Rule 71(3) EPC (intention to grant) and the application is withdrawn before the Rule 71(3) date
• No refund if refused or deemed withdrawn after substantive examination has begun
• PCT (IPEA): 100% refund if the demand is treated as not filed or withdrawn before international preliminary examination starts
• 75% reduction for eligible applicants from low-income / lower-middle-income countries

Question 22

Are fees refunded if an application is deemed withdrawn under Art. 77 & Rule 37(2) EPC?

Answer 22

Yes - if the national office fails to forward the application in time, the EP application is deemed withdrawn, and all fees are refunded.

Question 23

When are claims fees and the fee for grant and publishing refunded?

Answer 23

If the application is withdrawn during the last stage of the procedure, the applicant may get a refund of claims fees (Rule 71(7) EPC) and/or the fee for grant and publishing, depending on the timing of withdrawal.

Question 24

When are appeal fees reimbursed at the EPO?

Answer 24

Appeal fees are reimbursed if:

a) notice of appeal is filed in due time, but the appeal fee is paid late
b) notice of appeal is filed late and the appeal fee is paid late
c) notice of appeal is filed late, even though the appeal fee was paid in time

Rule 103 EPC also allows partial reimbursement if the appeal procedure is terminated early, e.g., if the appellant withdraws.

Question 25

Can the EPO credit fees already paid against fees due later?

Answer 25

Yes. Under certain conditions, the EPO will credit fees against fees which fall due later. For example, if the **grant and publishing fee** is paid in response to a first Rule 71(3) EPC communication and amendments are filed, the EPO may **credit this amount** against a later Rule 71(3) EPC fee. Any difference due to **fee increases** must be paid within the reply period. (Rule 71a(5) EPC)

Question 26

When is a payment by debit order considered made, and what happens if there are insufficient funds in the deposit account?

Answer 26

**Date of payment:** The payment date is the date the EPO receives the debit order (or the execution date), provided sufficient funds are available on that date. If filed with a competent national authority under Art. 75(1)(b) EPC, the payment period is deemed observed if: * The debit order was filed together with the application, and * Sufficient funds were available when the period expired. **If there are insufficient funds (shortfall):** Fees are booked in ascending order: * Application type ("PCT" before "EP" before "UP") * Fee code (point 7.3 ADA) Once a debit order cannot be executed in full: → No further debit orders are booked until replenishment. The outstanding payment is considered made only on the date the account is duly replenished. ## Footnote The payment is considered to have been made on the date on which the deposit account is duly replenished. If the deposit account is duly replenished within the appeal period, the appeal fee is considered paid in due time.

Question 27

What happens if an old EPO fee is paid within six months of a fee increase?

Answer 27

It is deemed **valid if the shortfall is paid within two months** of an EPO invitation (transitional provisions, Art. 6(3), OJ EPO 2024, A3).

Question 28

Under the PCT, from which date is the one-month time limit for paying the transmittal, international filing, and search fees calculated?

Answer 28

* The one-month period is calculated from the **date of receipt** of the international application by the receiving Office - this is **not necessarily the international filing date**! **Explanation:** * Under Article 11(1) PCT, the international filing date is accorded only if certain requirements are fulfilled at the date of receipt. * If those requirements are not met, a **later date** may be accorded as the international filing date. * However, the deadline for payment of the transmittal fee, international filing fee and search fee (Rules 14.1(c), 15.3 and 16.1(f) PCT) is calculated from the **date of receipt**, even if that is not the accorded international filing date. ---

Question 29

Can amendments to a European patent application be validly filed in a non-EPO language (e.g. Turkish)?

Answer 29

Yes, under certain conditions. Explanation: * Rule 3(2) EPC requires amendments to be filed in the language of the proceedings (Article 14(3) EPC). * However, Article 14(4) EPC allows applicants whose residence or principal place of business is in an EPC Contracting State with a non-EPO official language to file documents subject to time limits in that national language. * In case of conflict, the EPC prevails over the Implementing Regulations (Article 164 EPC). * Therefore, Article 14(4) EPC takes precedence over Rule 3(2) EPC. * A translation into the language of the proceedings must be filed within one month of filing the document (Rule 6(2) EPC).