A deposit account may also be debited on the basis of an automatic debit order signed by or on behalf of the account holder (automatic debiting procedure), in accordance with the Arrangements for the automatic debiting procedure (abbreviated to "AAD"). The AAD plus explanatory notes are published as Annexes A.1 and A.2 to the ADA in Supplementary publication 4, OJ EPO 2019; see also OJ EPO 2020, A77 and OJ EPO 2020, A78. The AAD can also be found on the EPO website (epo.org) under: Applying for a patent/Fees.[]

An automatic debit order must be filed on behalf of the applicant or the patent proprietor or the appointed representative in an electronically processable format (XML), using the EPO Online Filing software, CMS or via Online Fee Payment in Online services. An automatic debit order can be revoked via Online Fee Payment in Online services only. It may be revoked only for the proceedings as a whole.

An automatic debit order extends to all types of fees covered by the automatic debiting procedure and payable in respect of the proceedings specified in it. As the proceedings progress, each such fee is automatically debited and treated as having been paid in due time provided that the deposit account contains sufficient funds. The automatic debit order may not be restricted to specific types of fees.

In the case of multiple payments from the same deposit account, the EPO processes automatic debit orders before any other debit orders.[]

Subject to that, debit orders are booked in ascending order of application number ("PCT" before "EP"), unless otherwise indicated.