Annex B.1 to the ADA
Arrangements for Online Fee Payment via My.epoline®
CONTENTS
1. General provisions
2. Authorisation
3. Debiting the deposit account
4. Inspecting the account
5. Withdrawal of authorisation
Appendix: 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 entitled to use a deposit account with the EPO may be authorised to pay fees by means of Online Fee Payment via My.epoline®.
2.2 A further condition for using Online Fee Payment via My.epoline®is possession of a valid smart card and reader. Authorisation to use Online Fee Payment via My.epoline®may be requested together with the application for a smart card, or subsequently.
2.3 To request authorisation together with the application for a smart card, the relevant section must be completed on the form available via the "Enrol for a smart card" link on the My.epoline® home page. The completed form, signed by the account holder, is to be addressed to:
European Patent Office
Branch at The Hague
Procedural and Technical Support
Box 5818
2280 HV Rijswijk
THE NETHERLANDS
Fax +31 (0)70 340-4600
For subsequent authorisation the account holder should contact EPO Procedural and Technical Support at the above e-mail address.
3. Debiting the deposit account
3.1 Deposit accounts may be debited in respect of fees and expenses to be levied by 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 EPO Online Multipay Tool or according to the DTD published in the appendix to this annex.
3.4 Confirmation of successful transmission of the debit order to the EPO is immediately indicated on screen. This confirmation may be printed out by the user. The absence of such confirmation indicates that the debit order is to be 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 on the date of receipt of a debit order which relates to multiple fees, the funds are partly insufficient, the fees are debited in ascending order of application number and only to the extent that the funds are sufficient to cover the total of the fees indicated for each application concerned.
3.7 If the deposit account is replenished within the periods 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.
The "Fee Payment" plan shows users which of their applications are subject to the automatic debiting procedure. The "Fees due" overview includes information on the amount of each fee payable within the following 40 days, together with the relevant fee code and the application number for which the fee is due.
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.