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§ 321 Application of Moneys Received by the Receiving Office in Certain Cases - ADMINISTRATIVE INSTRUCTIONS UNDER THE PCT
§ 321 Application of Moneys Received by the Receiving Office in Certain Cases
(a) The receiving Office shall, to the extent that it has received instructions from the applicant as to the fees to which it shall apply moneys received by it from the applicant, apply those moneys accordingly.
(b) Where the receiving Office receives moneys from the applicant which, together with any other moneys so received, are not sufficient to cover in full the transmittal fee (if any), the international filing fee and the search fee (if any), the receiving Office shall, to the extent that it has not received instructions from the applicant as to the fees to which it shall apply the moneys which are available for the purpose, apply those moneys in payment, successively, of the fees set out below to the extent that they are due and unpaid and in the order in which they appear below:
(i) the transmittal fee;
(ii) the international filing fee;
(iii) the search fee.
(c) Where, pursuant to paragraph (b), the receiving Office allocates moneys in payment of the designation fees to cover designations made under Rule 4.9(a), it shall apply them to those fees as follows:
(i) where the applicant indicates to which designation or designations the amount is to be applied, it shall be applied accordingly but, if the amount received is insufficient to cover the designations indicated, it shall be applied in the order chosen by the applicant in indicating the designations;
(ii) to the extent that the applicant has not given the indications referred to in item (i), the amount, or the balance thereof, shall be applied to the designations in the order in which they appear in the request part of the international application;
(iii) where the designation of a State is for the purposes of a regional patent, and provided that the required designation fee is, under the preceding provisions, available for that designation, the designation of any further States for which the same regional patent is sought shall be considered as covered by that fee.
(d) Where the receiving Office receives moneys from the applicant in response to an invitation under Rule 16bis.1 which are not sufficient to cover all the unpaid fees, including, where required, the late payment fee under Rule 16bis.2, the moneys shall be applied in the order referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c) to as many of the fees due, including any late payment fee, as can be covered.
(e) Where, pursuant to Rule 15.5(b), the receiving Office allocates moneys in payment of fees under Rule 15.5(a) in respect of the confirmation under Rule 4.9(c) of designations made under Rule 4.9(b), the receiving Office shall apply those moneys as follows:
(i) where the applicant indicates to which designation or designations the amount is to be applied, it shall be applied accordingly, but, if the amount is insufficient to cover the designations indicated, it shall be applied to the designations in the order chosen by the applicant in indicating the designations;
(ii) to the extent that the applicant has not given the indications referred to in item (i), the amount, or the balance thereof, shall be applied to the designations in the order in which they appear in the notice containing the confirmation;
(iii) where the designation of a State is for the purposes of a regional patent, and provided that the required designation fee is, under the preceding provisions, available for that designation, the designation of any further States for which the same regional patent is sought shall be considered as covered by that fee.
(f) When allocating moneys as provided in paragraph (e), both the designation fee and the confirmation fee must be covered in respect of each designation.
(g) Where moneys have been applied by the receiving Office in accordance with indications given by the applicant as mentioned in paragraph (c)(i) or (e)(i), the receiving Office shall inform the International Bureau as to the effect of the said indications, preferably by sending the International Bureau a copy of any relevant written communication received from the applicant.
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