🔍 New EPO Guidelines 2025 – What You Need to Know, Part 5  

📌 Part 5: The EPO Contingency Upload Service 

What changed:  

• The Guidelines now reflect the possibility to use The EPO Contingency Upload Service as a backup method for filing debit orders, in situations where the standard payment methods are unavailable or inaccessible. The Contingency Upload Service may exceptionally be used if certain conditions are met: 

• the payment period expires on the day of the debit order’s submission; 

• the deposit account contains sufficient funds for the debit to be carried out; and 

• evidence is provided that the payee is affected by such unavailability, outage or system malfunction, irrespective of its cause. 

🔗 Ref: GL A‑III, 3 / GL A-X, 4.2.3 

💡 Why it matters:  

The EPO Contingency Upload Service offers a new backup method for payment, allowing timely payment of fees in exceptional circumstances so that important time limits (procedural acts, patent renewals, etc.) may be met. 

✅ What to watch out for or do differently:  
✔ With exceptional and surprising circumstances in mind, be aware of the options provided by the EPO Contingency Upload Service (also in relation to submitting documents to the EPO).