Accueil Patents in France Procedural Rules Official Fees

Official Fees

Official fees

To proceed with the grant procedure, it is essential not to forget to pay the official fees. However, it is also important to know how to pay them correctly…

Difference Between Tax and Official Fee

In France, there is a semantic distinction between a tax and an official fee.

Indeed, a tax is a financial levy collected by an administration in exchange for a public service. An official fee is also a sum paid by the user of a public service. Unlike a tax, its amount is proportional to the service provided, and only users who directly benefit from this service pay it.

Therefore, regarding the INPI, we are indeed dealing with official fees…

Having made this distinction, you are free to do as you wish: in any case, I personally always use « tax »… (but here, I will make an effort for the sake of principle).

Due Date of Official Fees

Due Date

Principle

The due date appears to be the date by which payment can be made.

Unlike the European procedure, French law does not seem to distinguish between the due date and the final deadline for payment.

The guidelines simply refer to the « payment deadline » (INPI Examination Guidelines, H-I 1).

Official Fees Paid Before the Due Date

It is possible to pay annual official fees in advance; however, such payment cannot be validly made more than 1 year in advance (R613-46 IPC).

For other official fees, the situation is less clear: I see no provision that prohibits, for example, paying the grant official fee at the time of filing.

Payment of Official Fees

Amount

Official fees must be paid at the rate in force on the date of payment (INPI Examination Guidelines, H-I 2).

Persons Who Can Pay

No legal basis specifies this point: I therefore assume that any person can pay an official fee, even if they are not the proprietor of the application or the patent.

Payment Methods

Cash Payment

It is possible to pay in cash at the INPI headquarters counter (Order of April 24, 2008, on official fees for procedures collected by the INPI, Article 4).

Payment by Current Account

Opening

To open a current account with the INPI, it is necessary to complete a form and accept the general terms and conditions of the current account.

Only one current account per natural or legal person is possible (INPI Current Account Opening Form, point 3.1).

Funding

It is possible to fund your account (INPI Current Account Opening Form, point 4.2):

  • by bank transfer to the account of the INPI’s accounting officer
    • only the account holder can make a transfer (otherwise the funding is refused)
    • the funding date of the account may vary depending on the diligence of the accounting officer (basically)…
  • by (French) check.
Account Closure

The account may be closed:

  • at the request of the proprietor or their successor in title (INPI Account Opening Form, point 5.1) or
  • by the INPI ex officio (INPI Account Opening Form, point 5.2) if the account remains inactive for 24 consecutive months
    • a formal notice is nevertheless sent by recorded delivery.

The account balance (if positive) is transferred to the bank account provided at the time of opening.

If the refund cannot be processed, a formal notice is sent by the INPI, and the INPI will retain the funds if:

  • no response is received within 4 years;
  • no response is received within 3 months and the balance is less than or equal to €8.
Account Statement

No specific provisions are set out in the regulations, although account statements are available on the INPI website.

Account Debit

It is possible to pay by direct debit from this client account (Order of 24 April 2008 on official fees for procedures collected by the INPI, Article 4):

It also appears possible to pay the official fees related to the filing via EPOLINE (Decision No. 2015-073 of the Director General of the INPI). However, I find no legal basis for authorizing the payment of other official fees (this is problematic, as this is done daily in IP representative firms…).

If a debit order is issued by an unauthorized person, the order is normally rejected (INPI Account Opening Form, point 3.1).

Debit and Insufficient Funds

In the event of insufficient funds, the payment order will be refused (INPI Account Opening Form, point 4.2.2).

Automatic Debit

This does not exist 🙂 (INPI Account Opening Form, point 4.2.2).

Postal Order

It is possible to pay by postal order by sending the order (Order of 24 April 2008 on official fees for procedures collected by the INPI, Article 4) to the INPI headquarters (Decision No. 2015-059 of the Director General of the INPI).

Credit Card Payment

It is possible to pay by credit card (Order of 24 April 2008 on official fees for procedures collected by the INPI, Article 4):

  • online on the INPI website,
  • at the INPI headquarters counters.

Bank Transfer

It is possible to pay by bank transfer (Order of 24 April 2008 on official fees for procedures collected by the INPI, Article 4) by transferring the funds to the INPI accounting officer’s account.

Checks

It is possible to pay by check (Order of 24 April 2008 on official fees for procedures collected by the INPI, Article 4).

Calculation of the Official Fee Amount

In the event of calculating an official fee involving a percentage (e.g., reduction, late payment), the official fee amount is rounded down to the nearest euro (Order of 24 April 2008 on official fees for procedures collected by the INPI, Article 3).

Insufficient payment

Principle

In all cases, if even one cent is missing from the payment of official fees, the payment will not be considered as having been made.

No provision allows for the acceptance of a payment if a minimal amount is missing.

Official fee schedule applicable to payment

The fees for the procedure are set by the Order of April 24, 2008, on the official fees for procedures collected by the Institut national de la propriété industrielle.

The fees for services are set by the Decision No. 2017-24 of the Director General of the INPI.

Modification of the fee schedule

The rates set by previous orders remain applicable (INPI Examination Guidelines, H-I 2 and Order of April 24, 2008, on the official fees for procedures collected by the Institut national de la propriété industrielle):

  • if warnings or notifications have already been issued,
  • unless the new rates are lower.

Date on which a payment is deemed to have been made

Official fees are considered as duly paid:

Refund of official fees

Cases of refunds

The filing and search report official fees are refunded ex officio when the application is deemed inadmissible (R411-17 IPC).

Furthermore, if the application is withdrawn or rejected before the search report procedure has commenced, the search fee is refunded (R411-17 IPC).

Other cases

It appears that the INPI does not have the possibility to refund an official fee paid in error.

The only possible cases of refund are listed in Article R411-17 IPC.

This is not my opinion, it is the INPI’s:

Thus, if you paid a grant official fee but the application is rejected beforehand, the INPI will not refund it.

In other words, the INPI does not recognize the concept of payment without cause as the EPO does…

This is extremely surprising because, as I mentioned earlier, an official fee is a sum paid in exchange for a service rendered. It is therefore surprising that the INPI retains the sum without providing the service.

But that is just my personal opinion!

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