16bis.1       Invitation by the Receiving Office

(a)  Where, by the time they are due under Rules 14.1(c), 15.3 and 16.1(f), the receiving Office finds that no fees were paid to it, or that the amount paid to it is insufficient to cover the transmittal fee, the international filing fee and the search fee, the receiving Office shall, subject to paragraph (d), invite the applicant to pay to it the amount required to cover those fees, together with, where applicable, the late payment fee under Rule 16bis.2, within a time limit of one month from the date of the invitation.

(b)  [Deleted]

(c)  Where the receiving Office has sent to the applicant an invitation under paragraph (a) and the applicant has not, within the time limit referred to in that paragraph, paid in full the amount due, including, where applicable, the late payment fee under Rule 16bis.2, the receiving Office shall, subject to paragraph (e):

(i)  make the applicable declaration under Article 14(3), and

(ii)  proceed as provided in Rule 29.

(d)  Any payment received by the receiving Office before that Office sends the invitation under paragraph (a) shall be considered to have been received before the expiration of the time limit under Rule 14.1(c), 15.3 or 16.1(f), as the case may be.

(e)  Any payment received by the receiving Office before that Office makes the applicable declaration under Article 14(3) shall be considered to have been received before the expiration of the time limit referred to in paragraph (a).

16bis.2       Late Payment Fee

(a)  The payment of fees in response to an invitation under Rule 16bis.1(a) may be subjected by the receiving Office to the payment to it, for its own benefit, of a late payment fee. The amount of that fee shall be:

(i)  50% of the amount of unpaid fees which is specified in the invitation, or,

(ii)  if the amount calculated under item (i) is less than the transmittal fee, an amount equal to the transmittal fee.

(b)  The amount of the late payment fee shall not, however, exceed the amount of 50% of the international filing fee referred to in item 1 of the Schedule of Fees, not taking into account any fee for each sheet of the international application in excess of 30 sheets.