refund of official fees from the Russian Patent Office

When and how can I receive a refund of official fees from the Russian Patent Office?

The procedures for the official fee refund by the Russian Patent and Trademark Office (Rospatent) are defined by the regulation “On patent and other fees for performing legally significant actions related to an invention, utility model, or industrial model patent, to state registration of trademark and service mark” approved by the Russian government’s ruling dated 10.12.2008 No. 941 (with later amendments).

The official fee paid in accordance with the said regulation is nonrefundable except for the following cases:

• payment of a fee in an amount exceeding the amount established by the regulation,
• refusal of the applicant to perform an action before applying for its performance to Rospatent, and
• payment of a fee for an action that has not been performed.

In the case where an official fee was paid for considering an opposition and Rospatent makes a decision to terminate the proceedings on the opposition, 50% of the official fee shall be refunded.

In the event that Rospatent sends a notification about the absence of grounds for conducting the information search on an application for an invention, utility model, or industrial design, 50% of the examination fees shall be refunded.

At the request of the payer, the funds received in the payment of the fee, or the amount overpaid, shall be returned or offset against other fees, the payment of which is permissible on the date the request was submitted. Refunds are made within a month from the date of receipt of the request.

The request for the return or offset of the fee paid (overpaid amount of the fee) may be filed within three years from the date the corresponding fee was paid.