[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 37, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 37CFR1.26]

[Page 35-36]
 
              TITLE 37--PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS
 
  CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF 
                                COMMERCE
 
PART 1_RULES OF PRACTICE IN PATENT CASES--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart A_General Provisions
 
Sec. 1.26  Refunds.

    (a) The Director may refund any fee paid by mistake or in excess of 
that required. Except as provided in Sec. 1.117 or Sec. 1.138(d), a 
change of purpose after the payment of a fee, such as when a party 
desires to withdraw a patent filing for which the fee was paid, 
including an application, an appeal, or a request for an oral hearing, 
will not entitle a party to a refund of such fee. The Office will not 
refund amounts of twenty-five dollars or less unless a refund is 
specifically requested, and will not notify the payor of such amounts. 
If a party paying a fee or requesting a refund does not provide the 
banking information necessary for making refunds by electronic funds 
transfer (31 U.S.C. 3332 and 31 CFR part 208), or instruct the Office 
that refunds are to be credited to a deposit account, the Director may 
require such information, or use the banking information on the payment 
instrument to make a refund. Any refund of a fee paid by credit card 
will be by a credit to the credit card account to which the fee was 
charged.
    (b) Any request for refund must be filed within two years from the 
date the fee was paid, except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, 
or in Sec. 1.28(a), Sec. 1.117(b), or Sec. 1.138(d). If the Office 
charges a deposit account by an amount other than an amount specifically 
indicated in an authorization (Sec. 1.25(b)), any request for refund 
based upon such charge must be filed within two years from the date of 
the deposit account statement indicating such charge, and include a copy 
of that deposit account statement. The time periods set forth in this 
paragraph are not extendable.
    (c) If the Director decides not to institute a reexamination 
proceeding, for ex parte reexaminations filed under Sec. 1.510, a 
refund of $1,690 will be made to the reexamination requester. For inter 
partes reexaminations filed under Sec. 1.913, a refund of $7,970 will 
be made to the reexamination requester. The reexamination requester 
should indicate the form in which any refund should be made (e.g., by 
check, electronic funds transfer, credit to a deposit account, etc.). 
Generally, reexamination refunds

[[Page 36]]

will be issued in the form that the original payment was provided.

(35 U.S.C. 6; 15 U.S.C. 1113, 1123)

[47 FR 41274, Sept. 17, 1982, as amended at 50 FR 31826, Aug. 6, 1985; 
54 FR 6902, Feb. 15, 1989; 56 FR 65153, Dec. 13, 1991; 57 FR 38195, Aug. 
21, 1992; 62 FR 53183, Oct. 10, 1997; 65 FR 54659, Sept. 8, 2000; 65 FR 
76773, Dec. 7, 2000; 68 FR 48289, Aug. 13, 2003; 72 FR 46836, Aug. 21, 
2007]