PCT Receiving Office Guidelines

Chapter XI: Fees

Failure to Pay the Prescribed Fees under Article 14(3)

267. If the applicant has failed to pay to the receiving Office the amount required under Rule 16bis or has paid less than what is needed to cover the transmittal fee, the international filing fee, where required, the late payment fee, and the search fee, the receiving Office declares the international application withdrawn under Article 14(3) and promptly notifies the applicant using Form PCT/RO/117. It sends a copy of that notification to the International Bureau and, where the search copy has already been transmitted, to the International Searching Authority (Rules 16bis.1(c) and 29.1). Since international publication can only be stopped if this notification reaches the International Bureau before completion of technical preparations for international publication (Rule 29.1(v)), it is critical that this declaration be made and notified to the International Bureau early enough to be able to have this effect. In urgent cases, it is strongly recommended that the receiving Office send the notification of withdrawal to the International Bureau through ePCT, preferably using the corresponding Action. Using ePCT Action will ensure that the international application is immediately flagged as withdrawn in the International Bureau's processing system and prevent publication if submitted before the completion of technical preparations for international publication. In the rare situation where ePCT cannot be used, the upload service is available at https://pct.wipo.int/ePCTExternal/pages/UploadDocument.xhtml.