Rule 24(1) - OJ 2002, 545

Notice dated 29 October 2002 concerning the electronic filing of patent applications and other documents

- OJ 2002, 545 -

The present notice is issued in connection with the decision of the President of the European Patent Office (EPO) dated 29 October 2002 on the electronic filing of patent applications and other documents.

1. Filing European and international patent applications and other documents

1.1 European patent applications may be filed in electronic form with the EPO or with the competent national authorities of the contracting states which so permit.

1.2 International patent applications and other documents specified by the EPO within the meaning of Article 2 of the decision of the President dated 29 October 2002 may also be filed in electronic form with the EPO.

1.3 The current addresses for Online Filing can be found on the EPO's Website under epoline® (www.european-patent-office.org/epoline)¹.

2. Other documents

2.1 Other documents within the meaning of Article 2 of the Decision of the President dated 29 October 2002 which may currently be filed in electronic form are the designation of the inventor, the authorisation, and the form for entry into the European phase (Form 1200).

2.2 Where the filing of other documents in electronic form is permitted in future, this will be announced on the EPO Website under epoline® (www.european-patent-office.org/epoline).

3. Form of the documents for European and international patent applications

3.1 Documents pertaining to European and international patent applications and filed in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Decision of the President dated 29 October 2002, including all drawings, should preferably be prepared using the software issued by the EPO (epoline® Online Filing software).

3.2 Subject to prior approval by the EPO, other software may also be used, in particular for filing European patent applications.

3.3 The Administrative Instructions under the PCT, Part 7 and Annex F² apply to the filing of international applications and other documents within the meaning of Rule 89bis PCT.

3.4 For applications containing a sequence listing, the provisions governing the filing of sequence listings³ are applied mutatis mutandis.

3.5 The technical documents relating to European and international patent applications may be attached in their original format, provided that format is one of those listed on the EPO Website under epoline® (www.european-patent-office.org/epoline)⁴. Technical documents may be attached in a different data format provided that the applicant informs the EPO, when filing the application, where it can within reason acquire the corresponding software.

4. Signature

4.1 Where documents filed in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Decision of the President of 29 October 2002 require signature, the signature may take the form of a facsimile signature, a text string signature or an enhanced electronic signature.

4.2 A facsimile signature is a facsimile reproduction of the signer's signature.

4.3 A text string signature is a string of characters, preceded and followed by a forward slash (/), selected by the signatory to provide evidence of his identity and of his intent to sign the message in question.

4.4 Enhanced electronic signatures are created using electronic PKI-based signatures either issued by the EPO or recognised by it. A list of recognised electronic signatures can be found on the EPO Website under epoline® (www.european-patent-office.org/epoline)⁵.

5. Filing on electronic data carriers

5.1 Documents to be filed in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Decision of the President dated 29 October 2002 may be filed on electronic data carriers using the epoline® Online Filing software. A list of admissible data carriers and data formats is published on the EPO's Website under epoline® (www.european-patent-office.org/epoline)⁶.

5.2 These documents must be accompanied by a paper document identifying the applicant and/or his representative, indicating an address for correspondence and listing the files stored on the data carrier.

6. Encryption

Documents filed in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Decision of the President dated 29 October 2002 must be wrapped and encrypted using the software made available by the EPO.

7. Date of receipt of electronically filed patent applications

Electronically filed patent applications are accorded as the date of filing the date on which the application documents are received by the EPO or the competent national authority, provided these documents satisfy the requirements of Article 80 EPC or Article 11(1) PCT.

8. Acknowledgment of receipt

8.1 The receipt of documents filed in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Decision of the President dated 29 October 2002 is acknowledged electronically by the EPO or the competent national authority during the submission session.

8.2 Where the acknowledgment is not successfully transmitted, the EPO or national authority concerned will transmit it without delay by other means, where the information at its disposal so permits.

8.3 The acknowledgment includes the identity of the EPO or national authority concerned, the date and time of receipt, a reference or application number allocated by the EPO or national authority, a list of the files transmitted and a message digest, ie the message in compressed form.

8.4 Acknowledgment of receipt does not imply the accordance of a filing date.

9. Cancellation of previous notices

This notice replaces the notice dated 1 June 2002⁷.