Szabadalmi Közlöny és Védjegyértesítő, 2003. január-március (108. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)

2003-01-01 / 1. szám

14

2003/1 SZKV

15.6 Refund

The receiving Office shall refund the international fee to the applicant:

(i) if the determination under Article 11(1) is negative,

(ii) if, before the transmittal of the record copy to the International Bureau, the international application is withdrawn or considered withdrawn, or

(iii) if, due to prescriptions concerning national security, the international application is not treated as such.

Rule 16

The Search Fee

16.1 Right to Ask for a Fee

a) Each International Searching Authority may require that the applicant pay a fee („search fee”) for its own benefit for carrying out the international search and for performing all other tasks entrusted to International Searching Authorities by the Treaty and these Regulations.

b) The search fee shall be collected by the receiving Office. The said fee shall be payable in the currency or one of the currencies prescribed by that Office („receiving Office currency”), it being understood that, if any receiving Office currency is not that, or one of those, in which the International Searching Authority has fixed the said fee („fixed currency”), it shall, when transferred by the receiving Office to the International Searching Authority, be freely convertible into the currency of the State in which the International Searching Authority has its headquarters („headquarters currency”). The amount of the search fee in any receiving Office currency, other than the fixed currency, shall be established by the Director General after consultation with the receiving Office of, or acting under Rule 19.1 b) for, the State whose official currency is the same as the receiving Office currency. The amounts so established shall be the equivalents, in round figures, of the amount established by the International Searching Authority in the headquarters currency. They shall be notified by the International Bureau to each receiving Office prescribing payment in that receiving Office currency and shall be published in the Gazette.

c) Where the amount of the search fee in the headquarters currency is changed, the corresponding amounts in the receiving Office currencies, other than the fixed currency or currencies, shall be applied from the same date as the changed amount in the headquarters currency.

d) Where the exchange rate between the headquarters currency and any receiving Office currency, other than the fixed currency or currencies, becomes different from the exchange rate last applied, the Director General shall establish the new amount in the said receiving Office currency according to directives given by the Assembly. The newly established amount shall become applicable two months after its publication in the Gazette, provided that any receiving Office referred to in the third sentence of paragraph b) 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 for that Office from that date.

e) Where, in respect of the payment of the search fee in a receiving Office currency, other than the fixed currency or currencies, the amount actually received by the International Searching Authority in the headquarters currency is less than that fixed by it, the difference will be paid to the International Searching Authority by the International Bureau, whereas, if the amount actually received is more, the difference will belong to the International Bureau.

j) As to the time limit for payment of the search fee and the amount payable, the provisions of Rule 15.4 a) relating to the basic fee shall apply mutatis mutandis.

16.2 Refund

The receiving Office shall refund the search fee to the applicant:

(i) if the determination under Article 11(1) is negative,

(ii) if, before the transmittal of the search copy to the International Searching Authority, the international application is withdrawn or considered withdrawn, or

(iii) if, due to prescriptions concerning national security, the international application is not treated as such.

16.3 Partial Refund

Where the international application claims the priority of an earlier international application which has been the subject of an international search by the same International Searching Authority, that Authority shall refund the search fee paid in connection with the later international application to the extent and under the conditions provided for in the agreement under Article 16(3) b), if the international search report on the later international application could wholly or partly be based on the results of the international search effected on the earlier international application.

Rule 16bis

Extension of Time Limits for Payment of Fees

16bis.l Invitation by the Receiving Office

a) Where, by the time they are due under Rules 14.1 c), 15.4 a) and

16.1 J), the receiving Office finds that no fees were paid to it, or that the amount paid to it is insufficient to cover the transmittal fee, the basic fee and the search fee, the receiving Office shall invite the applicant to pay to it the amount required to cover those fees, together with, where applicable, the late payment fee under Rule 16bis.2, within a time limit of one month from the date of the invitation.

b) Where, by the time they are due under Rule 15.4 b), the receiving Office finds that no fees were paid to it, or that the amount paid to it is insufficient to cover the designation fees necessary to cover all the designations under Rule 4.9 a), the receiving Office shall invite the applicant to pay to it the amount required to cover those fees, together with, where applicable, the late payment fee under Rule 16bis.2, within a time limit of one month from the date of the invitation. The amount payable in respect of any designation fee shall be the amount applicable on the last day of the one-year period from the priority date if the time limit under Rule 15.4 b) (i) applies or the amount applicable on the date of receipt of the international application if the time limit under Rule 15.4 b) (ii) applies.

c) Where the receiving Office has sent to the applicant an invitation under paragraph a) or b) and the applicant has not, within the time limit referred to in that paragraph, paid in full the amount due, including, where applicable, the late payment fee under Rule 16bis.2, the receiving Office shall, subject to paragraph d):

(i) allocate any moneys paid as specified by the applicant or, in the absence of such specification, as prescribed by the Administrative Instructions,

(ii) make the applicable declaration under Article 14(3), and

(iii) proceed as provided in Rule 29.

d) Any payment received by the receiving Office before that Office sends the invitation under paragraph a) orb) shall be considered to have been received before the expiration of the time limit under Rule 14.1 c),

15.4 a) or b) or 16.1 f), as the case may be.

e) Any payment received by the receiving Office before that Office makes the applicable declaration under Article 14(3) shall be considered to have been received before the expiration of the time limit referred to in paragraph a) or b).

16bis.2 Late Payment Fee

a) The payment of fees in response to an invitation under Rule 16bis. 1 a) or b) may be subjected by the receiving Office to the payment to it, for its own benefit, of a late payment fee. The amount of that fee shall be:

(i) 50% of the amount of unpaid fees which is specified in the invitation, or,

(ii) if the amount calculated under item (i) is less than the transmittal fee, an amount equal to the transmittal fee.

b) The amount of the late payment fee shall not, however, exceed the amount of the basic fee referred to in item 1 a) of the Schedule of Fees.