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

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 The present notice is an updated version of the Notice dated 7 July 2021,^[ 4 ] which is hereby superseded.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)