EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
Information from the EPO
Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 14 January 2022 concerning the refund of the international search fee by the EPO acting as International Searching Authority
The President of the European Patent Office,
having regard to the Agreement under the PCT between the European Patent Organisation and the International Bureau of WIPO which entered into force on 1 January 2018, and in particular Article 5(2)(i) and Annex D, Part II(3) thereof,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
Refundable amounts
Where the international search report drawn up by the Office acting as International Searching Authority is based on an earlier search report prepared by the Office on an application whose priority is claimed for the international application, the international search fee paid for the pending international application shall be refunded as follows:
Type of earlier search | Level of benefit for current search and refund |
|---|---|
1. Searches with written opinion |
|
1a) European search (Art. 92 EPC) |
full 100 % |
1b) International search (Art. 15(1) PCT) |
|
1c) Supplementary international search (Rule 45bis PCT) |
|
1d) Search made on behalf of a national office on a national application (AL,1 BE,2 CY, FR, GB, GR, HR,1 IT, LT, LU, LV, MC, MT, NL,2 SM, TR) |
|
2. Searches without written opinion |
|
International-type search (Art. 15(5) PCT) |
full 70 % |
Article 2
Refund level
If the EPO can make full use of the earlier search report, it shall make a full refund as indicated in Article 1.
If the EPO can make partial use of the earlier search report, it shall make a partial refund as indicated in Article 1.
Article 3
Criteria for refund and refund procedure
The criteria determining the applicable refund level (full or partial use of the earlier search report) and the refund procedure shall be governed by the notice from the European Patent Office dated 9 January 2009 concerning the criteria for refund of search fees (OJ EPO 2009, 99).
Article 4
Entry into force
This decision shall enter into force on 1 April 2022 and shall apply to all international applications in respect of which the international search report is drawn up on or after that date.
It replaces the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 21 December 2018 (OJ EPO 2019, A5).
Done at Munich, 14 January 2022
António CAMPINOS
President