Rule 371 – Time periods for paying court fees

1. The fixed fees provided for in Section I and Section IV of the table of fees and fees for other procedures and actions provided for in Section III of the table of fees shall be paid at the time of lodging the relevant pleading or application. The payment shall be made to one of the bank accounts indicated by the Court and it shall indicate the paying party or its representative together with the number of the patent involved and the number of the case.

2. Proof of payment shall be provided together with the relevant pleading or application.

3. In cases of urgency, where a payment in advance is not possible, the representative of the party in question shall pay the fixed fee within the period set by the Court and the Court may order that the relevant pleading or application shall be deemed lodged and effective when received by the Registry if payment of the fixed fee is made within such period.

4. The value-based fee provided for in Section II of the table of fees shall be paid according to the claimant’s assessment of the value at the time of lodging the relevant pleading or application. In the event that a higher value is determined by the judge-rapporteur the remaining fees due shall be paid within 10 days of service of the order determining the value of the action in accordance with the Rules 22, 60, 74, and 133. Where the value is lower, the Court will reimburse overpaid fees.

5. Where an Application for legal aid has been lodged in accordance with Rule 377, the rules on the obligation as to the time when to pay the fees under paragraph 1 shall not apply.

Relation with Agreement: Article 70

Case Law:

IPPT20230613, UPC CFI, LD Milan, Oerlikon v Himson II
Ex parte order to preserve evidence at trade fair (Article 60 UPCA, Rule 192 RoP). Extreme urgency exists considering that the international trade fair where the offending conduct is taking place started on 8.6.2023 and ends, tomorrow, on 14 June 2023. The prerequisites of Articles 197(1) RoP and 60(5) UPCA for the ex parte granting of the measure are met, since (a) time constraints do not allow the parties to be convened before the end of the trade fair tomorrow; (b) there is a risk that the evidence will no longer be accessible to the claimant once the exhibition is over, since the defendant is based abroad and the documents indicated are easy to conceal and/or destroy. Payment of fees (Rule 192(5) RoP, Rule 371(1) RoP: The Tribunal notes that pursuant to Section 371(3) RoP, in cases of urgency, when advance payment is not possible, the applicant's counsel must pay the fixed contribution within the time limit set by the Tribunal: in light of this limitation, the applicant must be ordered to pay this contribution by 15 June 2023.