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Notice from the European Patent Office dated 6 July 2022 concerning the reduction of the fees for the international search and the international preliminary examination carried out on international applications in favour of nationals of certain states – revised list of states

This text is intended for publication in the Official Journal (OJ) of the EPO. It is made available in advance on the EPO website merely as a courtesy to the public. Only the text subsequently published in the officially certified PDF file of the OJ is authentic. It cannot be guaranteed that this advance version accurately replicates that text.

1. By decision of 12 December 2019,[ 1 ] the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation revised the reduction scheme introduced in 2009[ 2 ] in respect of the fees for the international search and the international preliminary examination carried out on international applications filed by nationals of certain states. The purpose of this re-published Notice is to provide for an up-to date list of states whose nationals benefit from the fee reductions (Annex I).

2. Pursuant to Article 11(3)(iii) of the Agreement between the EPO and WIPO under the PCT,[ 3 ] Annex D of the agreement has been revised with effect from 1 April 2020 to take into account the decision of the Administrative Council.

3. The fees for the international search, the supplementary international search and the international preliminary examination carried out on international applications under Article 2, paragraph 1, items 2 and 19, of the Rules relating to Fees will be reduced by 75% if the international application, the request for supplementary international search or the demand for international preliminary examination is filed by an applicant:

– where said applicant or, if there are two or more applicants, each applicant is a natural person who is a national and resident of a state that is not party to the European Patent Convention and that, on the date of filing of the application or on the date of payment of the supplementary international search fee or of the international preliminary examination fee, is classified by the World Bank as a low-income or lower-middle-income economy as shown in Annex I to this notice, or

– where said applicant or, if there are two or more applicants, each applicant is a natural or legal person who, within the meaning of Rule 18 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, is a national and resident of a state in which a validation agreement with the European Patent Organisation is in force.

4. Currently, the following states fall under the second category: Morocco (MA), the Republic of Moldova (MD), Tunisia (TN) and Cambodia (KH).

5. The present notice is an updated version of the Notice dated 7 July 2021,[ 4 ] which is hereby superseded. The reduction of the international search fee applies to all international applications filed on or after 1 July 2022. The reduction of the supplementary international search fee or the international preliminary examination fee applies in respect of payments made on or after 1 July 2022. In accordance with the present classification of states as low-income or lower-middle-income economies, Lebanon was added to the list and Belize removed from the previous list (see Annex I below).

ANNEX I

States classified as low-income and lower-middle-income economies by the World Bank (as of 1 July 2022) (in bold: PCT contracting states)

AF

Afghanistan

AO

Angola

BD

Bangladesh

BF

Burkina Faso

BI

Burundi

BJ

Benin

BO

Bolivia

BT

Bhutan

CD

Congo, Dem. Rep.

CF

Central African Republic

CG

Congo

CI

Côte d’Ivoire

CM

Cameroon

CV

Cape Verde

DJ

Djibouti

DZ

Algeria

EG

Egypt

ER

Eritrea

ET

Ethiopia

FM

Micronesia Fed. States

GH

Ghana

GM

Gambia

GN

Guinea

GW

Guinea-Bissau

HN

Honduras

HT

Haiti

ID

Indonesia

IN

India

IR

Islamic Republic of Iran

KE

Kenya

KG

Kyrgyzstan

KH

Cambodia

KI

Kiribati

KM

Comoros

KP

DPR of Korea

LA

Lao PDR

LB

Lebanon

LK

Sri Lanka

LR

Liberia

LS

Lesotho

MA

Morocco

MG

Madagascar

ML

Mali

MM

Myanmar

MN

Mongolia

MR

Mauritania

MW

Malawi

MZ

Mozambique

NE

Niger

NG

Nigeria

NI

Nicaragua

NP

Nepal

PG

Papua New Guinea

PH

Philippines

PK

Pakistan

RW

Rwanda

SB

Solomon Islands

SD

Sudan

SL

Sierra Leone

SN

Senegal

SO

Somalia

SS

South Sudan

ST

Sao Tomé & Principe

SV

El Salvador

SY

Syrian Arab Republic

SZ

Eswatini

TD

Chad

TG

Togo

TJ

Tajikistan

TL

Timor-Leste

TN

Tunisia

TZ

United Rep. of Tanzania

UA

Ukraine

UG

Uganda

UZ

Uzbekistan

VN

Vietnam

VU

Vanuatu

WS

Samoa

YE

Yemen

ZM

Zambia

ZW

Zimbabwe

 

[ 1 ] CA/D 13/19 of 12.12.2019, OJ EPO 2020, A4.

[ 2 ] CA/D 7/08 of 21.10.2008, OJ EPO 11/2008, 521.

[ 3 ] OJ EPO 2017, A115.

[ 4 ] OJ EPO 2021, A58.