Ancillary Regulations Part II

Rule 95a(1) OJ 1998, 360: Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 14 May 1998 concerning phased implementation and use of the PHOENIX electronic file system for the creation, maintenance, preservation and inspection of files

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Ancillary Regulations

Part II

Rule 95a(1)

Rule 95a(1) OJ 1990, 365: Notice of the European Patent Office dated 1 June 1990 concerning the keeping of files relating to European patent applications and patents

Rule 101(1) OJ 1991, 489: Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 19 July 1991 on the filing of authorisations

Rule 95a(1) - OJ 1998, 360

Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 14 May 1998 concerning phased implementation and use of the PHOENIX¹ electronic file system for the creation, maintenance, preservation and inspection of files

- OJ 1998, 360 -

The President of the European Patent Office,

Having regard to Rules 95a(3) and 94(1) EPC,

Has decided as follows:

Article 1
PHOENIX electronic file system

Files relating to European patent applications, and to international applications for which the European Patent Office (EPO) acts under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), shall progressively be created, maintained and processed in electronic form using the EPO's electronic file system, PHOENIX².

Article 2
File inspection

Article 2 shall cease to apply according to the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 6 June 2003 (OJ EPO 2003, 370).

Article 3
Preservation of electronic files and of original documents

(1) The electronic files created pursuant to Article 1 shall be stored on two different electronic media for the entire period under Rule 95a(1) and (2) EPC or Rule 93.1 and 93.3 PCT, as applicable.

(2) The original documents, whether making up the application or subsequently filed, shall be preserved until further notice.

Article 4
Entry into force

This decision shall enter into force on 18 May 1998.

Done at Munich, 14 May 1998
Ingo Kober
President

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¹	A Notice from the European Patent Office concerning the PHOENIX electronic file system will be published in one of the next issues of the EPO Official Journal.

²	Please note that the requirement to file European patent applications, international applications and subsequent documents in three copies (Rules 35(2) EPC, Rule 36(1) EPC and Rule 104(1) EPC and Rule 11.1(b) PCT) remains unaffected.