5

Overseas Fee Systems and Finance Policy regarding
Industrial Property Rights

The forms of fee systems adopted for industrial property rights are an important issue both for users who
pay the fees and for the JPO, which must pay for the necessary costs from the collected fees. However, the current
fee systems have many challenges to be tackled, including: (1) international harmonization of various
differences with overseas practices, such as gaps in fee level and the different fee-setting methods; and (2) how
the policy objectives, such as encouragement of invention and filing, implementation of prompt and precise
examination, and relief of the financially weak, should be reflected in the fee systems.
In this report, the fee systems for U.S., U.K., German, and French industrial property rights and the fee
system for European patent applications under the EPC were studied, and the current situation of the balance offees paid before and after the issuance of patents as well as the graduated rates of patent maintenance fees wereanalyzed. A questionnaire survey was also conducted to the national authorities of the respective countries andthe EPO to find their respective approaches to fee systems. In addition, such aspects as discount system,
reimbursement system, methods of fee revisions and financial management of the respective authorities wereanalyzed.

Ⅰ Introduction

As for the fees regarding the industrial
property rights in Japan, while the special accountfor patent administration is governed by theprinciple of equalization of income and expenditure,
looking at patent-related fees, the fee for filing anapplication or the request for examination is set
lower than the actual costs of procedure from theviewpoint of promoting invention, and the patentfee (annual maintenance fee) is set for the total
revenue as a whole to cover the total expenditure of
the patent administration by the Patent Office.
Since the Patent Special Account Law went
into effect (in 1984), the measures and policies forfees have been governed by this principle, and inrecent years, revisions of the fees were legislated,such as the leveling of the maintenance fees for the
10th year and after (1998), and the price cut of thefees concerning claims (1999), etc. Further, also
provided are measures of fee-reduction for persons
short of funds.
However, since Japan aims to become an“intellectual property-based nation,” it is necessary
to review again the overall fee system so that theimbalances in sharing the costs be rectified, proper
requests for examination be promoted, and the total
costs be reduced. As well, it is important to review
this fee system taking into consideration the
disparity in fees between our country and othercountries, and other countries’ thoughts on themeasures and policies regarding the fees.
In this research and study, we conducted
research and analysis, as of January 2003, about themeasures and policies on the fees for industrial
property rights in the U.S., the U.K., Germany andFrance, including European patents (EPC), and also
investigated the current situation of financial
management at the respective responsible agencies.
As for the measures and policies on the fees, we
conducted research and analysis on the fees for theprocedures from making an application to theobtainment of rights and the fee for maintenance(*1)
for a patent right, utility model right, design rightand trademark right. In addition, as for the situationof financial management, we investigated theagencies responsible for the intellectual property
administration of each of the aforementioned
countries and the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO).

Ⅱ Policy on Fee Systems for
Industrial Property Rights
1

Fee Systems in Foreign Countries(1) Patent Right–related Fee System
The patent right–related fee system of major
foreign countries consists of, breaking down into
major groups, the application fee, the fee forprocedures through the obtainment of right, and themaintenance fee. The application fee consists onlyof the basic fee in the U.K., Germany and France,
but in the U.S. and EPC, there are additional fees
depending on the number of claims, etc. Though
the fee for procedures through the obtainment right(*1) In this research and study, the fee for renewal of a right and the fee for extension of the protection period are included in the“Maintenance fee”.

IIP Bulletin 2003

● 36 ●

generally consists of the fee for searching prior arts
(search fee) and the fee for the request for
examination, in the U.S., these fees are includedin the application fee. In addition, some countries(the U.S., EPC and France) have fees forregistration and issue. The maintenance fee is, incountries that we searched, set at a certain amountof fee independent of the number of claims.
Though in the U.S. the time of payment of themaintenance fee is every four years, in othercountries it is every year. Though counting ofmaintenance years starts on the year of registrationin the U.S., in other countries, it starts on the yearof filing the application. In each European country
that we searched, when a certain number of years
passes, even if a patent is not yet established, thepayment of the application maintenance fee isrequired.
(2) Fee System for Utility Model Right,
Design Right and Trademark Right(i) The fee system for utility model right of major
foreign countries basically consists of theapplication fee and the maintenance fee. In eachcountry that we searched, they don’t make a
substantive examination, and therefore, there is no
search fee or request-for-examination fee.
(ii) The fee system for design right of major
foreign countries basically consists of theapplication fee and the maintenance fee. However,in the U.S., they don’t have a maintenance fee.
(iii) The fee system for trademark right of major
foreign countries consists of the application fee andthe maintenance fee. In major foreign countries, theapplication fee and the maintenance fee (renewalfee) are generally set at almost the same level.
Both the application fee and the maintenance fee
are of a system that the fee is variable depending on
the number of classes an application or a rightcontains.
(3) Method of Payment of the Fee
In major foreign countries, all of the threemethods, (i) cash, (ii) transfer to an account, (iii)charge to a deposit account, are introduced. The
European Patent Office (EPO) and German Patent
and Trademark Office (DPMA) have introduced themethod of direct debit which is a variation of thecharging system, and 75% of EPC users are using
this system. Further, the United States Patent andTrademark Office (USPTO) has introduced themethod of credit card transaction.
(4) Basic Policy on Fee Systems
In major foreign countries, the measures andpolicies on patent right related fees are based on

the following basic ideas:(i) Every country that we searched covers thecosts of procedures to grant rights by fee revenues
from the applicants and the right-holders.
(ii) In the U.S., EPC, the U.K. and France, they
consider covering the total cost of right-granting
procedures by the total revenue of application fee,search fee, issue fee and maintenance fee, etc. isenough.
(iii) In the U.S., the U.K. and France, reflecting thepolicy of promoting invention and making
application and promoting the utilization of thepatent system, they differentiate the allocation offee revenues to cover the expenses. Specifically,
they set the application/search/examination fees atlower level, setting the maintenance fee atsomewhat higher level, covering the total expenses
as a whole.
(iv) In every country that we searched, theycollect maintenance fees set progressively inaccordance with the years of maintenance. In the
U.S., they apply reduced fees to small entities, andcharge relatively higher fees to large-scale business
entities.
(5) Analysis of Fees by Kinds of Rights(*2)(i) Analysis of patent-related fees(*3)
c Comparison of application fees
We analyzed the levels of the basic part of theapplication fee of each country. The application feeof either of the European countries (the U.K.,
France and Germany) is set at a low level of under
10,000 yen. Meanwhile, the application fee in the
U.S. is relatively high (90,000 yen). However, it
should be taken into account that the U.S.
application fee includes the search fee and theexamination fee, and in the case of a small entity(*4),
the application fee will be reduced to half, etc. (SeeFig. 1)d Comparison of total amount of fees up to therequest of examination (application fee + search fee+ request for examination fee + designation fee)
The amount in the European countries that wesearched is at a low level, falling between about
40,000 and 50,000 yen (half that of the U.S.,
one-seventh that of the EPC). The amount in the
U.S. is 90,000 yen, almost the same level as inJapan. The amount for EPC is as high as about
400,000 yen, which is about 4 to 7 times as high as
those of other countries. However, with an EPC
application, the special characteristics that theeffect of search and examination will be extended tothe designated countries should be taken into
account.(See Fig. 2)(*2) Based on the fee table as of Jan.5, 2003. Converted to yen by the currency conversion rate as of Jan 14, 2003(*3) Prerequisites for the analysis are as follows: The total number of claims is 8 or 14, the total number of independent claims(*3) Prerequisites
for ofthecountries
analysis designatedare as follows:
The total
numberisof11.
claims8 or 14,ofthe
total
numbertoofobtain
independentis 3, the number
for EPCapplications
The isnumberyears
requireda patentclaims
right inis 3, the number of countries designated for EPC applications is 11. The number of years required to obtain a patent right ineach country is presumed to be 2 years for the U.S., 4 years for the U.K., 5 years for Germany, 2 years for France, 5 years
each country is presumed to be 2 years for the U.S., 4 years for the U.K., 5 years for Germany, 2 years for France, 5 years
for European patent and 5 years for Japan. Also, two number of years for a patent right to be maintained, 10 years and 14
forEuropeanpatent and5 yearsfor Japan. Also, two number of years for a patent right to be maintained, 10 years and 14
years,
are presumed
for theanalysis.
years, are presumed for the analysis.
(*4) For details see the Report, II. 3. (1)(*4) For details see the Report, II. 3. (1)● 37 ●IIP Bulletin 2003

Fig. 1 Compason of Application Fee (Basic Fee)

Fig. 2 Comparison of Total Fee up to Request for Examinatione Comparison of total amount of fees up to theobtainment of a patent (application fee + search fee+ request for examination fee + designation fee +registration / issue fee)
The amount in either of the European
countries is about 40,000 to 80,000 yen, again lower
than that for the U.S. and EPC. The amount in the
U.S. is about 250,000 yen, and that of EPC is about
650,000 yen. The amount for Japan, themaintenance fee for the 1st to 3rd year being
included as part of the fee for obtaining a patentright(*5), is about 75 % of that for the U.S.(*6) (SeeFig. 3)f Comparison of maintenance fee
Assuming maintaining a patent for 10 years,

the level of the maintenance fee is, in the U.K. andFrance about 160,000 to 280,000 yen, in the U.S
about 400,000 yen, and in Germany about 600,000
yen. The level of maintenance fee in Japan falls
between that of the U.S. and Germany. Assuming apatent is maintained for 14 years, relative
hierarchical relationship of these countries in termsof the level of the total maintenance fee remains
the same. The fee for maintaining 14 years inGermany is about 1.4 million yen (about 3-4 times
the fee for the U.K or France). In every country
that we searched, the total maintenance fee for 14
years is about 2 times the fee for maintaining for 10
years in that country. (See Fig. 4)(*5) Section 66 (1) and (2) of Japan Patent Law(*6) Compared in the case of 8 claims
IIP Bulletin 2003

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Fig. 3 Comparison of Total Fee up to Right Obtainment

Fig. 4 Level of Right Maintenance Fee (for 10 or 14- year maintenance after right obtainment)

g Total amount of fee for the life of a patent(Total fee up to the obtainment of a patent +maintenance fee)
Assuming maintaining a patent for 10 years,
the total amount of fees for the life of a patent in the
U.S., EPC and Germany is at the level of about
600,000 to 700,000 yen. It is the same level for
Japan (in the case of 8 claims). Meanwhile, thelifetime fee in the U.K. and France is about 200,000
to 300,000 yen, about 30 to 40 % of that of thecountries mentioned above Assuming maintaining

it for 14 years, the maintenance fee plays a greatpart in the total lifetime amount of fee of eachcountry. The total amount for Germany is about 1.5
million yen, and for the U.S. about 1 million yen.
The level of the total amount for Japan (with 8
claims about 1.15 million yen, with 14 claims about
1.45 million yen) falls between the U.S. andGermany. The total lifetime fee for the U.K. andFrance is around 400,000 to 500,000 yen, still in alow level. (See Fig. 5 and 6)● 39 ●IIP Bulletin 2003

Fig. 5 Lifetime Cost for a Patent (for 10-year right maintenance)

Fig. 6 Lifetime Cost for a Patent (for 14-year right maintenance)h Analysis of the fee balance between before andafter the obtainment of right
We divided the total lifetime fee into before
and after the obtainment of right and analyzed theratio (share) between them. The ratio of the fee
before the obtainment of right in the U.K. andGermany is set at a low level a little more than
10 %. Most part (about 90 %) of the lifetime fee inboth countries is accounted for by the maintenance

IIP Bulletin 2003

fee, which reflects their policy that the successful
applicants (the obtainers of right) should bear larger
burden. Meanwhile, the ratio of the fee before theobtainment of right in the U.S. is 41 %, the highestof the countries that we searched. The fee balance
between before and after the obtainment of right inFrance and Japan falls between that of the U.K./
Germany and the U.S. (See fig. 7)● 40 ●

Fig. 7 Fee Balance Between Before and After Right Obtainment
USA
米国

41%

EPC
EPC
英国
GBR

13%

ドイツ
DEU

11%

フランス
FRA

26%

日本(8ｸﾚｰﾑ)
JPN(8 Claims)

20%

JPN(14Claims)
日本(14ｸﾚｰﾑ）

17%

JPN(8 Claims*1)
日本(8ｸﾚｰﾑ*1）

30%

日本(14ｸﾚｰﾑ*1)
JPN(14Claims*1)

28%

0%

20%

40%

Before Right
権利取得前
Obtainment

60%

80%

100%

After Right
権利取得後
Obtainment*1 shows the case where the maintenance fee for 1st to third year (Section 66(2), Patent Law) is regarded
as the fee required for obtaining the right and is included in the costs up to (before) the rightobtainment

Analysis of fees with variable elements(*7)
Focusing on the number of claims andanalyzing the relation to the amount of fees, itturned out that the lifetime fee of Japan, as
compared with those of foreign countries, is moreisensitive to the number of claims. In Japan, up to 14
claims the total fee is lower than that in the U.S.,
but in the case of more claims it will be higher thanthat in the U.S. (See fig. 8)

Fig. 8 Relation between Number of Claims and Life-time Cost

Life-time負担額[万円換算]
Cost: ten thousand yen

140
120
100
80

USA
米国
JPN
日本

60
40
20
0
1

3

5

7

9

11 13

15

17 19 2123

25 27 29

31

33 35

Numberof Claims
クレーム数(*7) The variable elements in foreign countries are the number of claims, the number of independent claims, with or without
multiple dependent claims, the number of designated countries, with or without the novelty search before the examination,
the extension of period for procedures, number of pages of the specification, etc.
● 41 ●IIP Bulletin 2003

(ii) Analysis of Fees for Utility Model Right,
Design Right, and Trademark Right(*8)
c The total amount of fees related to theapplication, registration and maintenance of a utility
model right is, in Germany and France, about
30,000 to 50,000 yen, which is about 30 to 40 % ofthat in Japan. d As for the application fee for adesign right, it is set at a low level (around 10,000yen) in European countries, but in the U.S. it is set
at a high level (about 40,000 yen). The total amountof fees related to the application, issue andmaintenance of a design right is, in France about
8,000 yen, in Germany about 35,000 yen, and in the
U.K. and the U.S. about 75,000 to 95,000 yen. The
total amount in Japan is more than three times(just below 300,000 yen) that of the U.K. and the
U.S. e For the trademark-related fees, theygenerally set the application fee and renewal fee atalmost the same level. The total fee for theapplication and maintenance (renewal) of a
trademark in European countries is below or
around 100,000 yen, set at a lower level than inJapan. In the U.S., in the case where the number ofclasses is one, it is at the same level as in European
countries, but with the increase of the number ofclasses the level of the total fee will go up too. (SeeFig. 9 to 11)(6) Fee Balance Between Kinds of Right
As for application fees, in the European
countries that we searched, the application fee for a
trademark is set higher than that for a patent ordesign. As for the lifetime total cost, in every
country which we searched, that related to a patent
is at the highest level, followed by that related to a
trademark. (See Fig.12 to 13)

Fig. 9 Utility Model Right Related Fee Level(*8) Major premises of the analysis are as follows: cUtility model right related fee: the number of claim is 4 right, maintaining
period is 6 years from the application. For Germany, on-paper application fee and maintenance fee for 4-6th year, forFrance, application fee, issue fee and maintenance fee for 2-6th year, for Japan, application fee and registration fee for1-6th year, are added up to calculate the fee for each country. dDesign right related fee: An application for a design of one
model is assumed. For the U.S., application fee and publication fee, for the U.K., application fee and renewal fees for thesecond and third period, for Germany, on-paper application fee, 6-10th year maintenance fee and 11-15th year
maintenance fee, for France, application fee (white and black products), for Japan, application fee and 1-14th year
registration fee, are added up for each country. eTrademark right related fee: The fees are calculated in accordance withthe varied number of classes from 1 to three. One renewal fee is counted in.

IIP Bulletin 2003

● 42 ●

Fig. 10 Comparison of Design Right Related Fee Level

Fig. 11 Comparison of Trademark Right Related Fee Level● 43 ●IIP Bulletin 2003

Fig. 12 Comparison of Application Fee by Country / Kind of Right

Fig. 13 Comparison of Life-time Total Cost by Country / Kind of Right (converted to yen)

thousand千円 yen

800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

米国
USA
Patent特許

Utility
Model
実用新案

英国
GBR
Design
意匠

ドイツ
DEU
商標（１クラス）

Trademark(1 class)(7) Graduated Rates of Patent MaintenanceFees and Ideas behind
As regards patent maintenance fees, weanalyzed the progressive rates of the fee level withthe level for the fifth year as the benchmark (100).
In major foreign countries, they commonly take themeasure and policy of progressive increase for the
maintenance fee. However, there are differencesamong countries in the degree of graduation, thecurves of graduation (linear type, stair type, with orwithout a elbow-shaped curve), the time of fee

IIP Bulletin 2003

フランス
FRA
商標（２クラス）

Trademark(2 class)

日本
JPN
商標（３クラス）

Trademark(3 class)payment (every year, every plurality of years), etc.
In Germany, graduation rate is set at a rather low
level until the 10th year, after which it increases
and ultimately goes beyond 2000. In France also,
the graduation rate ultimately goes beyond 2000.
Thus, in Germany and France, they take a measureand policy that modulates on the fee burden of rightholders. In the U.S. and other countries, thegraduation rate generally remains within several
hundreds. (See fig. 14)● 44 ●

Fig. 14 Graduated Rates of Patent Maintenance Fees (Indexes: the Maintenance Fee for the 5th year=100)
2,500

米国
USA

欧州（EPC)
EPC

英国
GBR

ドイツ
DEU

フランス
FRA

日本
JPN

Index of Progressive
累進指数 Rate

2,000

1,500

1,000

ベンチマーク Maintenance
Benchmark:
５年次の維持料を１００とする
Feefor the Fifth Year = 100

500

0
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
年次of Years
Number*In the U.S., the time of maintenance fee payment is not every year but once in plural years, under which system a fee will
maintain the right for plural years. Therefore, for the U.S., a fee is averaged out for a yearly amount to draw this graph.

(8) Accumulated Amount of Paid Fees overthe Years of Maintenance (Patent)
The accumulated amount of paid fees for EPC
is at a high level from early years, tending to covermuch of the total expenses in the early stage. In the
U.S., the accumulated amount projects to a highlevel during early years, then plateaus. In Germany,though it stays at a low level until close to the 14th
year, after that it increases exponentially. In Japan,
it is almost the same level up to the 13th year asthat of the U.S., after that it goes up to the samehigh level as Germany. (See fig. 15)

Fig. 15 Accumulated Amount of Paid Fees over the Years● 45 ●IIP Bulletin 2003

2

Changes of Fee Systems in Foreign
Countries

The fee systems of foreign countries haveundergone modifications in accordance with thechanges in circumstances of the time.
(1) Policy on, Reason for, and Procedure of
Fee Revision
The policy on a fee revision or the reason for arevision in major foreign countries could be divided
into the following patterns:(i) “Adjusting the fee level in accordance with therise in prices,” i.e. the pattern of judging thenecessity of the revision and rate of increase basedon a barometer they watch out. (revisions in the
U.S. based on the consumer price index) (*9)(ii) The pattern of “Revising fees when theincome and the expenditure budget go out ofbalance”. (the revision in the U.S. through alegislation of special law, EPO, U.K. Patent Office(UKPO))
When a situation that requires a fee revisionarises in those countries, they follow the procedureof internal investigation, approval of the council orthe diet and then public notification.
(2) Timing (Frequency) of Fee Revisions,
Width of Fee Revisions
In 14 years from 1990 to 2003, in the U.S. theyhad 13 revisions diligently adjusting the fee level.
Meanwhile, it is in real term 2 times in Germany, 4times in the U.K., practicing the policy ofmaintaining stability of the fees.
The width of a fee revision (width of fee rise /fee cut) differs depending on the reason for orpolicy on the revisions mentioned above. The
revisions based on the consumer price index were
mostly raising by 2 to 3 %. On the other hand, therevisions for the adjustment of income-expenditurebalance were made by greater width as needed.
Great width revisions which we can see are, 45.6%(the U.S., 1991) and minus 42.4% (France, 2002).
3

Special Fee Systems(1) Fee Discount System −Small Entities
In the U.S., there is a fee discount system forsmall entities to help out those in an economicallyweak position.(*10) Procedural requirements for
qualifying as a small entity tends to be loosened(*11),and 30 % of the applications made from 1998 to2000 had this system applied to them.

(2) Fee Discount System−License of Right
In the U.K., Germany and France, the “licenseof right” system is provided.
Under the license of right system, when apatent right holder declares or registers his
intention that licenses under the patent are to beavailable to third parties, he will get themaintenance fee reduced by a certain
percentage.(*12) The rate of reduction is 50 % in the
U.K. and Germany and 40 % in France. The systemof each country, while having a common legal effectof fee reduction, differs from each other in terms of
qualifications or procedures. In France, the numberof requests for the application of this systemamounts to about 600.
(3) Other Special Fee System
In the U.S., EPC, and the U.K., areimbursement system for fees paid by mistake oran amount paid in excess is provided.(*13) In addition,
in EPC, a reimbursement system to refund a
portion of search fee or examination fee dependingon the degree of reduction of search or examination
burden is provided. This is the system of refunding
50 % or 100 % of the search fee depending on the
degree of reduction of search burden on an
application when a novelty search has been
conducted on the application whose priority isclaimed for the European patent application. (*14) An
examination fee for an application will also be fully
refunded if the application is withdrawn before an
examination starts on it.(*15) In recent years, 14 % of
search fees and 8 % of examination fees that havebeen collected by EPC have been refunded.

Ⅲ Financial Management at the
Agency for Industrial Property
Right
Systemin
Foreign
Countries
The responsible agencies of major foreigncountries are required to cover their expenses
basically by the fee revenues. However, EPO and
WIPO, established by the relevant treaty and having
revenues from contracting states or allies in
addition to the fees for their services, have thefinancial base different from that of the agency ofeach country.
As for the balance of revenue and expenditure,in the U.S., collected fees are once credited to thegovernment expense account, then will be
expended in accordance with the budget approvedby the Congress, and the surplus is to be trusted to(*9) 35USC§41(f)(*10) 35USC§41(h)(*11) As an example, see http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/pbg/cpr.htm(*12) The U.K. Patent Law Section 46, German Patent Law Section 23, French Intellectual Property Code Article L613-10(*13) 35USC §42(d), 37CFR1.26(a), EPC Article126(2)(*14) Rules relating to Fees, Article10 (1)(*15) Rules relating to Fees, Article10 b (1)IIP Bulletin 2003

● 46 ●

the special account of Department of the Treasury,
with the recent trend of continuing surplus. In thecase of EPO and the National Institute for Industrial
Property of France (INPI), the balancing of revenue
and expenditure is required, and in fact they arebalanced for EPO, but with INPI, it is unknown
because they don’t publicize the figure of
expenditures. With UKPO, it is required that, as awhole, the ROCE(*16) be 6 %, and in fact they’vebeen enjoying the trend of favorable balance.
The size of revenue and expenditure budget
are, UKPO (around 10 billion yen), INPI (around 15
billion yen), WIPO (around 20 billion yen), DPMA
(around 25 billion yen), EPO (around 100 billion
yen) and then USPTO (around 120 billion yen). In
the countries except the U.K., the size has been
expanding in recent years, especially in EPO andUSPTO the figure has grown substantially (e.g. for
USPTO the figure has grown to one and a halftimes from FY 1997 to 2001.)

request for examination fee).
（Researcher:Kazuhiko Miyasaka）

IV Movements in the Fee Systems
Policies in Foreign Countries
USPTO, in response to the recent changes in
the intellectual property related environment,
publicized “The 21st Century Strategic Plan” inJune 2002, and “The Revised Version(*17)” insuccession. In this plan, a change in the fee system
is also investigated. Major points are: (1) The fees
for search and examination that are included in theapplication fee will be newly set out as theindependent search fee and examination fee. (2)The fee as required at filing an application will be
increased from the current US$ 750 (applicationfee) to US$1000 (application fee, search fee andexamination fee), but if the application is abandoned,
a part of the fee will be refunded. (3) The
graduation rate for the maintenance fee to becollected at the second to third stage will be a little
bit raised. The life time fee(*18) will be raised from
US$ 6,090 to US$ 7,000, by 15 %. (4) The feebalance between before and after the obtainment ofright(*19) will be changed, in terms of the ratio of thefee before the obtainment of right, from 41 % to
43 %, increasing a little bit the fee burden before
the obtainment of right.
In EPO, responding to the increase of work
load in recent years, a discussion is to be heldconcerning the balance between the fees to be paid
at the time of filing an application (application fee,novelty search fee) and the fees to be paid at thetime of request for examination (designation fee,(*16) ROCE: Return On Capital Employed, calculated by ordinary profit /(shareholders' equity + interest-bearing debt)(*17) The 21st Century Strategic Plan-Revised (03Feb, 2003), URL is,
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/strat21/index.htm(*18) In the case the maintenance fee is paid for stage 1 to stage 3.
(*19) The balance between the total amount of fees to the obtainment of right and the total maintenance fee for the stage 1 tostage 2.
● 47 ●IIP Bulletin 2003