Which Searching Authorities charge the most for bad sequence listings?

(Corrected “ISA/IB” typo to “ISA/IN” thanks to an alert commenter, see below.)

When you file a PCT application that contains a genetic sequence or an amino acid sequence, you are supposed to provide it in a particular computer-readable format.  This makes sense, of course.  For one thing, the various patent offices around the world want to load such sequence listings into searchable databases.  The idea is to facilitate searching so that if later somebody tries to get a patent on some sequence, and if the sequence is not novel, the lack of novelty can be quickly ascertained.  A second reason for this is that if the PCT application tries to claim a sequence, the International Searching Authority can readily carry out a novelty search of that claimed sequence. 

But what happens if the PCT applicant fails to provide the sequence in the computer-readable format?  Or what happens if the PCT applicant purports to provide the sequence in the computer-readable format, but the data file is not formatted correctly?  In such cases, the International Searching Authority is permitted to impose a Late Furnishing Fee.  

Which raises the question — which ISAs charge the most?  Which ISAs charge the least? 

I clicked through every Annex D in the PCT Applicant’s Guide to see what each International Searching Authority says about the Late Furnishing Fee (PCT Rule 13ter.1(c)).

Here are the ISAs, ranked from most expensive to least expensive in terms of their stated Late Furnishing Fee.

  • ISA/US – USD 320
  • ISA/EP – EUR 240 (about $271)
  • ISA/XV – EUR 230 (about $260)
  • ISA/PH – USD 250
  • ISA/FI – EUR 200 (about $226)
  • ISA/IL – ILS 467 (about $148)
  • ISA/KR – KRW 112500 (about $94)
  • ISA/IN – INR 4000 (about $53)
  • ISA/RU – RUB 4000 (about $49)
  • ISA/BR – BRL 180 (about $35)
  • ISA/CN – CNY 200 (about $31)
  • ISA/TR – TRY 200 (about $14)
  • ISA/EG – EGP 200 (about $12)
  • ISA/CL – zero
  • ISA/UA – zero

There are also eight ISAs that are silent as to whether they charge a Late Furnishing Fee.  Maybe this means they do not charge a Late Furnishing Fee, but I do not really know for sure.

  • ISA/AT 
  • ISA/AU
  • ISA/CA
  • ISA/ES 
  • ISA/JP 
  • ISA/SE
  • ISA/SG
  • ISA/XN

2 Replies to “Which Searching Authorities charge the most for bad sequence listings?”

  1. Hi all,
    in the informative list above, there is a typo, the IB does not act as ISA, the entry ISA/IB should be ISA/IN
    Best regards,
    Peter

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