Notice 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

8th July 2022

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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 Noticedated 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.