The issue of claims fees in PCT was discussed at the trilateral pre-conference of November 2007 and it emerged that although all three offices share a desire in principle to see provision for charging a claims fee introduced into the PCT, there are differences of opinion as to the legal basis under which such a provision could be introduced.
All offices agree however that simply introducing a claims fee without any complementary provisions could encourage applicants to devise methods of avoiding the fee e.g. by including more alternatives within claims and storing matter in the description and that care is needed in framing any proposal for the WIPO Assemblies in order to avoid so far as possible any undesirable side effects from the introduction of a claims fee.
Further discussions have been taking place.