5.2.4 Renewal fees 

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 European patent application's filing date.

According to Rule 51(1) as amended with effect from 1 April 2018 (OJ EPO 2018, A2), the renewal fee in respect of the third year may be paid up to six months before it falls due. All other renewal fees may not be validly paid more than three months before they fall due.

Renewal fee payments made before the permissible prepayment periods are not valid. If a debit order for a renewal fee is received via Central Fee Payment before the earliest valid payment dates under Rule 51(1), it will be rejected at source by the validation functionality (see A‑X, 4.2.3). If a payment is made too early either by filing a valid debit order via OLF and Online Filing 2.0 or by using any other payment method (i.e. bank transfer or credit card), the renewal fee will be refunded by the EPO according to the procedures laid down in A‑X, 10.

If the renewal fee has not been validly paid on or before the due date, it may still be validly paid within six months of the said date, provided that the additional fee is paid within this period. The additional fee can be paid until the last day of the sixth month following the month containing the anniversary of the date of filing (see J 4/91, reasons 2.7). This six-month period begins on the last day of the month referred to in Rule 51(1), first sentence, even if the circumstances described in Rule 134(1), (2) and (5) apply. Rule 134 is applicable to the calculation of the expiry of the six-month time limit for payment of the additional fee (see J 4/91, reasons 3.2). Whilst a notice draws the applicant's attention to the possibility under Rule 51(2) and Art. 2(1), item 5, RFees, the omission of such notification may not be invoked (see J 12/84 and J 1/89). For renewal fees for European divisional applications, see A‑IV, 1.4.3.

For Euro-PCT applications, if the renewal fee in respect of the third year would have fallen due earlier under Rule 51(1), it does not fall due until expiry of the 31st month, i.e. on the due date is deferred to the last day of the 31-month period under Rule 159(1). This deferred due date, and hence the expiry of another period (the 31-month period), forms the basis for calculating the additional period for payment of the renewal fee with an additional fee (see J 1/89, the principles of which apply). For example:

If the applicant requests entry into the regional phase before the expiry of the 31-month period (see Art. 23(2) PCT and Art. 40(2) PCT), in order for the request to become effective the renewal fee in respect of the third year has to be paid if the fee has fallen due earlier under Rule 51(1). If the renewal fee is not paid on the date early processing is requested, the request for early processing will be effective only from the date on which the renewal fee is paid (and all further requirements necessary on the latter date have been complied with) (see E‑IX, 2.8).

The obligation to pay renewal fees terminates with the payment of the renewal fee due in respect of the (patent) year in which the mention of the grant of the European patent is published, see Art. 86(2). "Patent years" are calculated as from the application's filing date. The first patent year (Art. 86(1), Art. 141(1)) starts on the filing date and ends on the same date of the following year. For the second and subsequent years, the patent year starts one day after the anniversary of the filing date and ends on the same day as the filing date of the following year.

Example of due date and time limits for payment:

Example 1 of last renewal fee payable to the EPO:

This means that for the last renewal fee payable to the EPO, it is not the due date but the beginning of the respective patent year that is decisive. If the mention of the grant of the European patent is published on the anniversary of the filing date, the renewal fee in respect of the next patent year, which has not yet begun, is no longer payable to the EPO but to the national authorities.

Example 2 of last renewal fee payable to the EPO:

This means that, if the renewal fee in respect of the next patent year falls due after notification of the communication under Rule 71(3) and before the next possible date for publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, the renewal fee is payable to the EPO (Rule 71a(4)). In that case, the mention of the grant will not be published until the renewal fee has been paid. If the renewal fee or any additional fee (Rule 51(2)) is not paid in time the application is deemed withdrawn.

Special provisions apply with regard to the due date for renewal fees in respect of cases where there is a successful request for re-establishment of rights under Art. 122 or a successful petition for review of a decision of the board of appeal under Art. 112a.