Rule 1 – Written proceedings
Rule 2 – Filing of and formal requirements for documents
Rule 3 – Language in written proceedings
Rule 4 – Language in oral proceedings
Rule 5 – Certification of translations
Rule 6 – Filing of translations and reduction of fees
Rule 7 – Legal authenticity of the translation of the European patent application
Rule 8 – Patent classification
Rule 9 – Administrative structure of the European Patent Office
Rule 10 – Responsibility of the Receiving Section and the Examining Division
Rule 11 – Allocation of duties to the departments of first instance
Rule 12 – (deleted)
Rule 12a – Organisation and management of the Boards of Appeal Unit and President of the Boards of Appeal
Rule 12b – Presidium of the Boards of Appeal and business distribution scheme for the Boards of Appeal
Rule 12c – Boards of Appeal Committee and procedure for adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal and of the Enlarged Board of Appeal
Rule 13 – Appointment and re-appointment of the members, including the Chairmen, of the Boards of Appeal and of the Enlarged Board of Appeal
Rule 14 – Stay of proceedings
Rule 15 – Limitation on withdrawals
Rule 16 – Procedure under Article 61, paragraph 1
Rule 17 – Filing of a new European patent application by the entitled person
Rule 18 – Partial transfer of the right to the European patent
Rule 19 – Designation of the inventor
Rule 20 – Publication of the mention of the inventor
Rule 21 – Rectification of the designation of an inventor
Rule 22 – Registration of transfers
Rule 23 – Registration of licences and other rights
Rule 24 – Special entries for licence registrations
Rule 25 – Certificate of exhibition
Rule 26 – General and definitions
Rule 27 – Patentable biotechnological inventions
Rule 28 – Exceptions to patentability
Rule 29 – The human body and its elements
Rule 30 – Requirements of European patent applications relating to nucleotide and amino acid sequences
Rule 31 – Deposit of biological material
Rule 32 – Expert solution
Rule 33 – Availability of biological material
Rule 34 – New deposit of biological material
Rule 35 – General provisions
Rule 36 – European divisional applications
Rule 37 – Forwarding of European patent applications
Rule 38 – Filing fee and search fee
Rule 39 – Designation fees
Rule 40 – Date of filing
Rule 41 – Request for grant
Rule 42 – Content of the description
Rule 43 – Form and content of claims
Rule 44 – Unity of invention
Rule 45 – Claims incurring fees
Rule 46 – (deleted)
Rule 47 – Form and content of the abstract
Rule 48 – Prohibited matter
Rule 49 – Presentation of the application documents
Rule 50 – Documents filed subsequently
Rule 51 – Payment of renewal fees
Rule 52 – Declaration of priority
Rule 53 – Priority documents
Rule 54 – Issuing priority documents
Rule 55 – Examination on filing
Rule 56 – Missing parts of the description or missing drawings
Rule 56a – Erroneously filed application documents or parts
Rule 57 – Examination as to formal requirements
Rule 58 – Correction of deficiencies in the application documents
Rule 59 – Deficiencies in claiming priority
Rule 60 – Subsequent designation of the inventor
Rule 61 – Content of the European search report
Rule 62 – Extended European search report
Rule 62a – Applications containing a plurality of independent claims
Rule 63 – Incomplete search
Rule 64 – European search report where the invention lacks unity
Rule 65 – Transmittal of the European search report
Rule 66 – Definitive content of the abstract
Rule 67 – Technical preparations for publication
Rule 68 – Form of the publication of European patent applications and European search reports
Rule 69 – Information about publication
Rule 70 – Request for examination
Rule 70a – Response to the extended European search report
Rule 70b – Request for a copy of search results
Rule 71 – Examination procedure
Rule 71a – Conclusion of the grant procedure
Rule 72 – Grant of the European patent to different applicants
Rule 73 – Content and form of the specification
Rule 74 – Certificate for a European patent
Rule 75 – Surrender or lapse of the patent
Rule 76 – Form and content of the opposition
Rule 77 – Rejection of the opposition as inadmissible
Rule 78 – Procedure where the proprietor of the patent is not entitled
Rule 79 – Preparation of the examination of the opposition
Rule 80 – Amendment of the European patent
Rule 81 – Examination of opposition
Rule 82 – Maintenance of the European patent in amended form
Rule 83 – Request for documents
Rule 84 – Continuation of the opposition proceedings by the European Patent Office of its own motion
Rule 85 – Transfer of the European patent
Rule 86 – Documents in opposition proceedings
Rule 87 – Content and form of the new specification of the European patent
Rule 88 – Costs
Rule 89 – Intervention of the assumed infringer
Rule 90 – Subject of proceedings
Rule 91 – Responsibility for proceedings
Rule 92 – Requirements of the request
Rule 93 – Precedence of opposition proceedings
Rule 94 – Rejection of the request as inadmissible
Rule 95 – Decision on the request
Rule 96 – Content and form of the amended European patent specification
Rule 97 – Appeal against apportionment and fixing of costs
Rule 98 – Surrender or lapse of the patent
Rule 99 – Content of the notice of appeal and the statement of grounds
Rule 100 – Examination of appeals
Rule 101 – Rejection of the appeal as inadmissible
Rule 102 – Form of decision of the Board of Appeal
Rule 103 – Reimbursement of appeal fees
Rule 104 – Further fundamental procedural defects
Rule 105 – Criminal acts
Rule 106 – Obligation to raise objections
Rule 107 – Contents of the petition for review
Rule 108 – Examination of the petition
Rule 109 – Procedure in dealing with petitions for review
Rule 110 – Reimbursement of the fee for petitions for review
Rule 111 – Form of decisions
Rule 112 – Noting of loss of rights
Rule 113 – Signature, name, seal
Rule 114 – Observations by third parties
Rule 115 – Summons to oral proceedings
Rule 116 – Preparation of oral proceedings
Rule 117 – Decision on taking of evidence
Rule 118 – Summons to give evidence before the European Patent Office
Rule 119 – Examination of evidence before the European Patent Office
Rule 120 – Hearing by a competent national court
Rule 121 – Commissioning of experts
Rule 122 – Costs of taking of evidence
Rule 123 – Conservation of evidence
Rule 124 – Minutes of oral proceedings and of taking of evidence
Rule 125 – General provisions
Rule 126 – Notification by postal services
Rule 127 – Notification by means of electronic communication
Rule 128 – Notification by delivery by hand
Rule 129 – Public notification
Rule 130 – Notification to representatives
Rule 131 – Calculation of periods
Rule 132 – Periods specified by the European Patent Office
Rule 133 – Late receipt of documents
Rule 134 – Extension of periods
Rule 135 – Further processing
Rule 136 – Re-establishment of rights
Rule 137 – Amendment of the European patent application
Rule 138 – Different claims, description and drawings for different States
Rule 139 – Correction of errors in documents filed with the European Patent Office
Rule 140 – Correction of errors in decisions
Rule 141 – Information on prior art
Rule 142 – Interruption of proceedings
Rule 143 – Entries in the European Patent Register
Rule 144 – Parts of the file excluded from inspection
Rule 145 – Procedures for the inspection of files
Rule 146 – Communication of information contained in the files
Rule 147 – Constitution, maintenance and preservation of files
Rule 148 – Communications between the European Patent Office and the authorities of the Contracting States
Rule 149 – Inspection of files by or via courts or authorities of the Contracting States
Rule 150 – Procedure for letters rogatory
Rule 151 – Appointment of a common representative
Rule 152 – Authorisations
Rule 153 – Attorney-client evidentiary privilege
Rule 154 – Amendment of the list of professional representatives
Rule 155 – Filing and transmission of the request for conversion
Rule 156 – Information to the public in the event of conversion
Rule 158 – The European Patent Office as an International Searching Authority or International Preliminary Examining Authority
Rule 159 – The European Patent Office as a designated or elected Office – Requirements for entry into the European phase
Rule 162 – Claims incurring fees
Rule 163 – Examination of certain formal requirements by the European Patent Office
Rule 164 – Unity of invention and further searches
Rule 165 – The Euro-PCT application as conflicting application under Article 54, paragraph 3
(1)If the examination under Article 90, paragraph 1, reveals that the description, claims or drawings, or parts of those application documents, appear to have been erroneously filed, the European Patent Office shall invite the applicant to file the correct application documents or parts within two months. The applicant may not invoke the omission of such a communication.
(2)If correct application documents or parts referred to in paragraph 1 are filed on or before the date of filing so as to correct the application, those correct application documents or parts shall be included in the application and the erroneously filed application documents or parts shall be deemed not to have been filed. The European Patent Office shall inform the applicant accordingly.
(3)If correct application documents or parts referred to in paragraph 1 are filed later than the date of filing, but within two months of the date of filing or, if a communication is issued under paragraph 1 or under Rule 56, paragraph 1, within two months of that communication, the application shall be re-dated to the date on which the correct application documents or parts were filed. The correct application documents or parts shall be included in the application and the erroneously filed application documents or parts shall be deemed not to have been filed. The European Patent Office shall inform the applicant accordingly.
(4)If the correct application documents or parts are filed within the period under paragraph 3, and the application claims priority of an earlier application on the date on which the requirements laid down in Rule 40, paragraph 1, were fulfilled, the date of filing shall, provided that the correct application documents or parts are completely contained in the earlier application, remain the date on which the requirements laid down in Rule 40, paragraph 1, were fulfilled, where the applicant so requests and files, within the period under paragraph 3:
(a)a copy of the earlier application, unless such copy is available to the European Patent Office under Rule 53, paragraph 2;
(b)where the earlier application is not in an official language of the European Patent Office, a translation thereof in one of these languages, unless such copy is available to the European Patent Office under Rule 53, paragraph 3;
and
(c)an indication as to where the correct application documents or parts are completely contained in the earlier application and, where applicable, in the translation thereof.
If these requirements are fulfilled, the correct application documents or parts shall be included in the application and the erroneously filed application documents or parts shall remain in the application.
(a)fails to file the correct application documents or parts within the period under paragraph 1 or 3,
or
(b)withdraws under paragraph 7 any correct application documents or parts filed under paragraph 3,
any filing of the correct application documents or parts shall be deemed not to have been made and the erroneously filed application documents or parts shall remain in the application or be restored to the application. The European Patent Office shall inform the applicant accordingly.
(6)If the applicant fails to comply with the requirements referred to in paragraph 4(a) to (c) within the period under paragraph 3, the application shall be re-dated to the date on which the correct application documents or parts were filed. The filing of the erroneously filed application documents or parts shall be deemed not to have been made. The European Patent Office shall inform the applicant accordingly.
(7)Within one month of the notification referred to in paragraph 3 or 6, last sentence, the applicant may withdraw the correct application documents or parts filed, in which case the re-dating shall be deemed not to have been made. The European Patent Office shall inform the applicant accordingly.
(8)If the applicant files correct application documents or parts under paragraph 3 or 4 after the European Patent Office has begun to draw up the search report, the European Patent Office shall invite the applicant to pay a further search fee within one month. If the search fee is not paid in due time, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.
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