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PART IV ANNUAL FEES Section 43(2) A patentee shall pay annual fees as prescribed by the Ministerial Regulations beginning the fifth year of the term of the patent. The payment of the fees shall be made within sixty days following the beginning of the fifth year of the term of the patent and of very year thereafter. If a patent is granted after the beginning of the fifth year of the term of the patent, the first annual fee shall be paid within sixty days following the grant of the patent. If the patentee does not pay the annual fees within the period as prescribed in the first or second paragraph, the patentee shall be liable to pay a surcharge of thirty percent of the unpaid annual fee by paying the annual fee together with the surcharge within one hundred and twenty days following the expiration of the payment period prescribed in the first or second paragraph. If the patentee fails to pay the annual fee and the surcharge within the period prescribed in the third paragraph, the Director-General shall prepare a report to the Board for canceling the patent. If the patentee files within sixty days from the date of receipt of the cancellation order, a request to the Board that the failure to pay the annual fee within the period prescribed in the third paragraph and the surcharge was due to a cause of necessity, the Board may extend the payment period or cancel the patent as they deem appropriate. Section 44(1) The patentee may request to pay all annual fees in advance by paying all of the annual fees in one payment instead of paying annually. In cases where all of the annual fees have been paid in advance by the patentee, and subsequently the list of the annual fees is revised or the patent is surrendered or cancelled, the patentee shall not be obliged to pay for any increase in the annual fees or shall not be entitled to refund the fees already paid by him. |