PCT Receiving Office Guidelines

Chapter XI: Fees

The International Filing Fee

241. The International Filing Fee. The amount of the international filing fee is set out (in Swiss francs) in the Schedule of Fees, which is annexed to the Regulations, and is payable in the currency or one of the currencies prescribed by the receiving Office. The amount of the international filing fee depends on the total number of sheets of the international application at the time of filing, which appears under "Total number of sheets" in Box No. IX (check list) of the request. If the international application contains more than 30 sheets, a supplement to the international filing fee must be paid for each sheet in excess of 30 (Rules 15.2(a) and 96 and the Schedule of Fees). This supplement is also due for the sheet containing the abstract, even where such abstract is missing at the time of filing the international application.

242. No fee is charged for any electronic file appearing to be a sequence listing in ST.26 XML format (Section 707).

243. Where tables, including those related to the disclosure of sequences, are contained in the international application, any sheet containing those tables is counted as a regular page of the description.

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247. Reduction of International Filing Fee for Applicants from Certain States. An applicant who is a natural person and who is a national of and resides in a State that is listed as being a State whose per capita gross domestic product is below US$25,000 (according to the most recent ten-year average per capita gross domestic product figures at constant 2005 US$ values published by the United Nations), and whose nationals and residents who are natural persons have filed less than 10 international applications per year (per million population) or 50 international applications per year (in absolute numbers) according to the most recent 5-year average yearly filing figures published by the International Bureau, or an applicant, whether a natural person or not, who is a national of and resides in a State that is listed as being classified by the United Nations as a least developed country is entitled, in accordance with the Schedule of Fees, to a reduction of 90% of certain PCT fees including the international filing fee. Information about the PCT Contracting States whose nationals and residents are entitled to such reduction is contained in the PCT Applicant's Guide, International Phase, Annex C. The applicant is only entitled to the reduction of the international filing fee if, at the time of filing of the international application, the applicant is or all applicants are the true and only owner(s) of the application and under no obligation to assign, grant, convey or license the rights in the invention to another party which is not eligible for the fee reduction. If there are several applicants, each must satisfy the above-mentioned criteria. If the applicant is or all applicants are entitled to the reduction of the international filing fee, this reduction applies on the basis of the indications of name, nationality and residence given in Boxes Nos. II and III of the request, without the need for a specific request to be made.

248. The fee reduction is available even if one or more of the applicants are not from Contracting States, provided that each of them is a national and resident of a State that meets the above-mentioned criteria and that at least one of the applicants is a national or resident of a Contracting State and thus is entitled to file an international application. For the Contracting States whose nationals and residents are eligible, see the PCT Applicant's Guide, Annex C and on the WIPO website (see www.wipo.int/pct/en/), and is also published and regularly updated in the Official Notices (PCT Gazette) and the PCT Newsletter. For States which are not Contracting States, the receiving Office should contact the International Bureau.

249. Where the applicant is, or all applicants are, as the case may be, entitled to the reduction of the international filing fee, the amount payable (Box I of the Fee calculation sheet) is 10% of international filing fee (Box I of the Fee calculation sheet).

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