Report of the Committee on EPO Finances
J. Boff (GB), Chair
EPO Fees
A paper was discussed at the October meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee (BFC) proposing a 1% increase in all fees other than the International search fee and preliminary examination fee. The average rate of increase across all fees would be around 0.8%. epi spoke against automatic fee adjustments but rather asked for periodic review of fees and fee structure to ensure that the fees remained appropriate, and for more notice and consultation on fee changes.
epi also pointed out that the budgeted increase in the number of pending applications automatically would give the EPO more of an increase in income than the 1% proposed, since renewal fees on pending application are such a large part of the Office’s income, and forecast to grow by around 4% between 2015 and 2016.
The proposal for the fee increase was approved by the BFC and later by Administrative Council, and will come into force 1st April 2016.
Financial Health
The Office is to undertake reviews of the financial position of the EPO.
Select Committee
A meeting of the Select Committee approved the Top 4 fee schedule, to the acclaim of the user representatives present.
