PCT Newsletter

July-August 2026 | No. 07-08/2026

PCT fee reductions at the European Patent Office

Changes in eligibility – FM, JO, LK, PH and VN

Nationals of certain countries may be eligible for reductions in some PCT fees at the European Patent Office (EPO). With effect from 1 July 2026, Jordan, Micronesia (Federated States of), the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam have been removed from the list of such countries.

The fees for international search, supplementary international search and international preliminary examination are reduced by 75% if the international application, the request for supplementary international search or the demand for international preliminary examination is filed:

  1. by a natural person who is a national of and resident in a state which is not a Contracting State of the European Patent Convention, and which on the date of filing of the application, or of payment of the supplementary international search or the international preliminary examination fee, is classified by the World Bank as a low-income or lower middle-income economy; or
  2. by a natural or legal person who is a national of and resident in a State in which a validation agreement with the EPO is in force.

Jordan, Micronesia (Federated States of), the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam have been removed from the list of countries whose resident nationals are eligible for these reductions in line with a recent update to the World Bank’s classification of countries.

For further information, please refer to the Official Journal of the EPO, July 2026. 

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