Directives of the PCT Assembly Relating to the Establishment of Equivalent Amounts of Certain Fees

as in force from July 1, 2010

The Assembly establishes in the following terms the directives relating to the establishment of equivalent amounts of the international filing fee, the handling fee, the search fee and the supplementary search fee (see Rules 15.2(d)(i), 16.1(d)(i), 45bis.3(b) and 57.2(d)(i)), it being understood that, in the light of experience, the Assembly may at any time modify these directives:

Establishment of Equivalent Amounts

(1) The equivalent amounts of the international filing fee and the handling fee in any currency other than Swiss franc, and of the search fee and the supplementary search fee in any currency other than the fixed currency, shall be established by the Director General, in the case of:

(i) the international filing fee, after consultation with each receiving Office which prescribes payment of that fee in such currency;

(ii) the search fee, after consultation with each receiving Office which prescribes payment of that fee in such currency;

(iii) the handling fee, after consultation with each International Preliminary Examining Authority which prescribes payment of that fee in such currency.

In the case of the international filing fee, the search fee and the handling fee, the equivalent amounts shall be established according to the exchange rates prevailing on the day preceding the day on which the consultations are initiated by the Director General. In the case of the supplementary search fee, the equivalent amounts shall be established according to the exchange rates prevailing on the day on which the Director General receives the notification of the amount of the supplementary search fee or prevailing on the day two months prior to the entry into force of the supplementary search fee, whichever is the later.

(2) The amounts so established shall be the equivalent, in round figures,

(i) of the amount of the international filing fee and of the handling fee, respectively, in Swiss franc set out in the Schedule of Fees;

(ii) of the amount of the search fee and the supplementary search fee (if applicable) established by the International Searching Authority in the fixed currency.

They shall be notified by the International Bureau to each receiving Office, International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority, as applicable, prescribing payment or establishing fees in the currency concerned and shall be published in the Gazette.

Establishment of New Equivalent Amounts Consequential on Changes in the Amount of the Fee Concerned

(3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall apply mutatis mutandis where the amount of the international filing fee, the handling fee, the search fee or the supplementary search fee is changed. The new equivalent amounts in the prescribed currencies shall be applied from the same date as the changed amount of the international filing fee or of the handling fee set out in the amended Schedule of Fees, or from the same date as the changed amount of the search fee or the supplementary search fee in the fixed currency.

Establishment of New Equivalent Amounts Consequential on Changes in Exchange Rates

(4) In the month of October of each year, the Director General shall, where applicable, after consultations with the Offices or Authorities referred to in paragraph (1), establish new equivalent amounts of the international filing fee, the handling fee, the search fee and the supplementary search fee according to the exchange rates prevailing on the first Monday in the month of October. Unless otherwise decided by the Director General, any adjustment under this paragraph shall enter into force on the first day of the subsequent calendar year.

(5) Where, for more than four consecutive Fridays (midday, Geneva time), the exchange rate between Swiss franc (in the case of the international filing fee and the handling fee) or the fixed currency (in the case of the search fee and the supplementary search fee) and any applicable prescribed currency is by at least 5% higher, or by at least 5% lower, than the last exchange rate applied, the Director General shall, where applicable, after consultations with the Offices or Authorities referred to in paragraph (1), establish new equivalent amounts of the international filing fee, the search fee, the supplementary search fee and/or the handling fee, as applicable, according to the exchange rate prevailing on the first Monday following the expiration of the period referred to in the first sentence of this paragraph. The newly established amount shall become applicable two months after the date of its publication in the Gazette, provided that the receiving Offices or the International Preliminary Examining Authorities concerned, as applicable, and the Director General may agree on a date falling during the said two-month period, in which case the said amount shall become applicable from that date.