58.1

a) Each International Preliminary Examining Authority may require that the applicant pay a fee (“preliminary examination fee”) for its own benefit for carrying out the international preliminary examination and for performing all other tasks entrusted to International Preliminary Examining Authorities under the Treaty and these Regulations.

b) The amount of the preliminary examination fee, if any, shall be fixed by the International Preliminary Examining Authority. As to the time limit for payment of the preliminary examination fee and the amount payable, the provisions of Rule 57.3 relating to the handling fee shall apply mutatis mutandis.

c) The preliminary examination fee shall be payable directly to the International Preliminary Examining Authority. Where that Authority is a national Office, it shall be payable in the currency prescribed by that Office, and where the Authority is an intergovernmental organization, it shall be payable in the currency of the State in which the intergovernmental organization is located or in any other currency which is freely convertible into the currency of the said State.