EPO Debit orders - New ADA OJ 2017 Suppl. 5

Key points

• As of 1 December 2017, debit orders can no longer be given by fax, on paper, or in PDF attachments. 
• Debit orders should be given using Online Fee Payment, the PCT fee calculation and payment feature in e.g. Online Filing (if I understand the second bullet below correctly), or the forms that are filled in in EPO Online Filing or EPO CMS. 
• Only in case of patent application filed on paper with a national authority under Article 75(1)(b) EPC, can a special paper form debit order be used. Some national authorities allow filing EP applications with them using EPO Online Filing Software, so then the debit order can be included in proper format. Alternatively, I assume that bank transfer to EPO mentioning the application number can be used for payment of the filing fee and search fee. 

EPO  link

5.1.2 The debit order must be filed in an electronically processable format (XML) via one of the following:

• EPO Online Filing or the EPO Case Management System (CMS), using EPO Forms 1001E, 1200E, 2300E or 1038E;
• the EPO Online Filing software or PCT-SAFE, CMS and ePCT using the PCT fee calculation and payment feature;
• Online Fee Payment in Online services.

5.1.3 Debit orders submitted in any other way, e.g. on paper, by fax, via the web-form filing service or using a different format such as a PDF attachment, are invalid and thus will not be carried out. The EPO will inform the party to the proceedings[ 8 ]accordingly, as a courtesy service. The legal consequence of filing an invalid debit order is laid down in point 5.4.2.