Fees are refunded to any deposit account that the party to the proceedings before the EPO (e.g. the applicant, the opponent, the appointed representative, the appellant) has indicated in its refund instructions. In most cases this will be the deposit account of the party to the proceedings itself, but it may also be the deposit account of a third party. The EPO notifies the party to the proceedings about the intended refund and the deposit account to which the amount will be credited in a separate communication.[]

Refund instructions, i.e. to which deposit account refunds are to be made, are to be filed in an electronically processable format (XML), namely via OLF or CMS, using EPO Form 1001E, 1200E or 1038E, preferably as early as possible in the proceedings before the EPO. Refund instructions can be updated at any time, using EPO Form 1038E.

For international applications filed with the EPO as receiving Office or for which the EPO acted as an International Authority under the PCT, new refund instructions are to be filed when entering into the European phase, using EPO Form 1200E.

New refund instructions filed together with a request for a change of representative or a transfer of rights will apply only once the EPO has confirmed the recording of the change. If no new refund instructions are present, a deposit account recorded for an applicant or representative who has withdrawn from the proceedings will be deleted ex officio. The same applies to the deposit account held by a third party indicated in the refund instructions of the former applicant or representative.

If no refund instructions are on file when a refund becomes due or if they are ambiguous, the EPO will establish ex officio whether it can make a refund to a deposit account held by the appointed professional representative or by the applicant (opponent/appellant). Otherwise it will invite the person who made the payment to claim the refund online.